‘Peddi’ released in theaters on June 4 and faced a lot of backlash along the way Janhvi KapoorThey portrayed the character of Achiyyamma. The objectification of an actor in a film leads to criticism on social media. The film sees Janhvi in front Ram Charan. Much of the criticism has focused on the character’s introduction scene, in which the camera lingers on different parts of his body before finally revealing his face. Critics have argued that the sequence prioritizes the male gaze and visual appeal over the establishment of meaningful characters.Amid this backlash, an old clip of Ratna Pathak Shah has gone viral. The ‘Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai’ actor said actors have a choice to accept or reject roles that objectify them. She said in this old interview with News18: “Everyone who decides to act in a film, every woman, I’m sorry to judge, but every woman who decides to act in a film like Dabangg, where she becomes a complete object of lust and more or less, nothing, those women too should stand up and say ‘no, I don’t feel like playing such a part’.”” Pathak also acknowledges that not all women in the industry have the same financial security or freedom to turn down these opportunities. Referring to the privileges some actors have, he added: “Especially because I have a mum or dad to fund this, at least at this point I’m not going to. Silk Smitha he didn’t have a chance to say that. His family depended on him doing what he had to do. My family is not dependent, so why don’t I stand up?’Actresses Vidya Balan also participated in the panel discussion, Bhumi PednekarSwara Bhasker and Zaira Wasim. The conversation focused on the representation of gender in film, the pressures faced by female actors and the impact films can have on society’s attitudes.In the same debate, Bhumi Pednekar emphasized the importance of the story in storytelling and revealed that she had turned down several projects because she was uncomfortable with the way female characters were written. He said: “We need to be more responsible. I totally agree with the impact we have on people, on the public, that we need to know that every time you’re banging a girl’s ass, there’s going to be 10 guys in a small town in India doing the same thing and they think it’s okay.“Meanwhile, ‘Peddi’ has also sparked conversations about its romantic subplot. Some viewers have expressed concern about scenes that they believe blur the boundaries of consent, arguing that romantic behavior can be interpreted as normalizing a woman’s persistence in the face of objections, rather than respecting her autonomy and choices.
