Varun Dhawan
Indian actor Varun Dhawan poses for a photograph STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images

Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan is known as a friendly type because of his frequent interaction with fans. But a selfie with one of his fans went wrong for the actor causing public embarrassment after he received a tweet from the Mumbai police.

On 22 November, police in the Indian movie capital shared a screenshot of a newspaper article about Dhawan trying to click a selfie with his fan and called out the actor for flouting traffic rules and sending a wrong message to thousands of his fans and asked him to be a better role model for youth.

"These adventures surely work on D silver screen but certainly not on the roads of Mumbai! U have risked ur life, ur admirers & few others. V expect better from a responsible Mumbaikar & youth icon like U! An E-Challan is on d way 2 ur home. Next time, V will B harsher," the police warned the Judwaa 2 actor.

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From the photo, it appeared the actor was at a traffic signal and accepted the selife request of a fan whose autorickshaw was right next to his car. He leaned out of his car window and did not appear to be wearing a seatbelt.

"We fined Mr Dhawan Rs 600 (£6) for riding without a seatbelt and leaning out of the window. He paid the fine," Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Amitesh Kumar told The Hindu. The day after, Dhawan apologised by replying to the tweet: "My apologies. Our cars weren't moving since we were at a traffic signal and I didn't want to hurt the sentiment of a fan but next time I'll keep safety in mind and won't encourage this."

The tweet from the police received mixed reactions. "What was wrong in clicking a picture? What section does it invoke?" one fan of the actor replied to the viral tweet. "They cannot catch big criminals moving freely and doing this to an actor who just stopped his moving car and took a selfie with his fan! That's it! No crime he did," added another.

Others supported the police's action. "Wow... kudos to @MumbaiPolice ... setting the example... law is equal for all... only one word – Respect," a social media user wrote.