Veteran actor Paresh Rawal has never been one to mince his words. While his acclaimed performances have earned him immense respect over the decades, his outspoken views on social media have often landed him in controversy. Looking back on those moments, the actor admitted that his blunt online presence did more harm than good. In a recent conversation, Paresh opened up about his temper, expressed regret over several of his tweets, and revealed that his habit of engaging on Twitter even affected his health.Speaking about his nature, Paresh said in an interview with Vickey Lalwani, “Look, I have nothing to gain from anyone. I don’t want to bring anyone down. I’m not driven by greed. Whatever I have, I already feel God has given me more than enough. So I have no greed. Why would I do something like that to someone? That’s why I’m straightforward and honest with everyone.”The actor also revisited an old incident in which he had admitted to hitting an audience member during a stage performance. Calling his behaviour “idiotic”, he said he deeply regretted losing control. “As for that incident where I talked about hitting someone… what happened was that they were passing remarks. There were comment after comment, even from other actors. It turned into banter, and then I got carried away. It was idiotic. I jumped into it. I was completely wrong. It happened, but I’ll never repeat it. I regret it. I really do. An artist should have control over themselves and over the circumstances.”Reflecting on his controversial social media activity, Paresh acknowledged that one of his most criticised tweets — directed at author Arundhati Roy — should never have been posted. “Yes, I wrote it. I shouldn’t have. I shouldn’t have said that.”He revealed that he has now largely distanced himself from Twitter because of the toll it took on his mental and physical well-being. “I’ve almost stopped using Twitter now because it was harming my health very badly. In fact, my blood pressure shot up. My doctor clearly told me: don’t watch news channels before going to bed, and don’t read newspapers until noon after waking up. If there’s any important news you need to know, it’ll find its way to you. You don’t have to sit there and make yourself hyper over everything.”The actor admitted that he, too, played a role in contributing to the negativity often associated with social media. “Many people treat social media like their personal dumping grounds, and I’m equally responsible for that. People write whatever comes to their mind because they have a platform. Nobody listens, so you just type it out. I never abuse people. My sarcasm is sharp enough. I won’t stoop to using foul language. But even that sarcasm, I shouldn’t have indulged in it. There’s too much negativity and toxicity there.”Paresh also revisited his criticism of film critic Anupama Chopra over her review of ‘Dhurandhar’. While he stood by his belief that the film deserved a more balanced discussion, he said criticism should always be constructive. “I felt that Dhurandhar was a well-made film. Some people will like it, others won’t, that’s perfectly fine. But then write about it. Offer constructive criticism. That’s how it should be. Not the other way around. That’s what I felt was wrong.”Explaining why he had referred to Chopra as “Miss Irrelevant” in his post, the actor added, “Yes, but the truth is, nobody really listens to what you’re saying. You can write whatever you want, and it hardly changes anything. Instead, it turns into a bandwagon. Fine, they’re doing their job, that’s okay.”When asked about the online abuse and threats that Chopra reportedly received after his tweet went viral, Paresh strongly condemned such behaviour. “That’s wrong. You can’t treat someone like that. She’s a lady, you know. She’s an educated, cultured woman. She’s Vikram Chandra’s sister, for God’s sake.”He also recalled the grace shown by both Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Anupama Chopra after the controversy, revealing that they later reached out to speak about the work of his son, actor Aditya Rawal.Paresh Rawal was most recently seen in ‘Bhoot Bangla’.