Deepika Padukone at a Promotional event
in Mumbai for the film Happy New Year. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
One of India’s best-known actors has
been accused of hypocrisy after she criticised the country’s best-selling
English-language newspaper for drawing attention to her cleavage.
The Times of India tweeted a link to
a video clip showing the chest and neck of Deepika Padukone, 28, shot from a
high angle apparently by a press cameraman, to the 75,000 followers of its
entertainment account. The tweet read: “OMG! Deepika Padukone’s cleavage show”.
The video, reported to be a year old, was also posted on the newspaper’s
entertainment site.
Padukone responded by tweeting to
her own 7.5m followers: “YES! I am a woman. I have breasts AND a cleavage! You
got a problem!!??”
The newspaper and Padukone have
since traded accusations on social media, on television and in print. “I felt
violated as a woman,” the former model told Bharka Dutt, one of India’s few leading female journalists on
television.
The dispute took another turn on
Monday when the Times of India published a response to a statement posted by
Padukone on her Facebook page at the weekend arguing that the media should
distinguish between her “reel” – cinematic – and “real” personalities.
“Deepika, we accept your reel vs
real argument, but what about all the times, and there have been many, when you
have flaunted your body off screen – while dancing on stage, posing for
magazine covers, or doing photo ops at movie promotional functions? What ‘role’
do you play there? So why the hypocrisy?” senior editor Priya Gupta said in the article. The newspaper also accused the actor of seeking to
publicise her latest film.
Other Bollywood stars, male and
female, have rushed to Padukone’s defence. “Well done take a stand for all of
us,” said Priyanka Chopra, another Bollywood A-lister, after Padukone first hit
back at the newspaper.
Shah Rukh Khan, who has played male
leads in several recent films starring Padukone, said he and others did not
“have the guts to do what she has done”.
The row has focused attention on
ethics in India’s chaotic and highly competitive media. “There are pictures
like this every day, particularly of foreign women in the press. The younger
generation is changing but there are still very many in the Indian middle class
who have traditional views,” said Ranjana Kumari, director of the Centre for
Social Research in Delhi.
A series of high-profile incidents
in India have raised deep concerns about violence against women in India. The
representation of women in Bollywood films, particularly storylines featuring
persistent lovers pursuing unwanted advances, has been cited as a contributory
factor.
Senior politicians, police officials
and others have frequently blamed rapes and other assaults on women’s dress and
behaviour. Recently Narendra Modi, the newly elected prime minister, said the
blame should lie with the young men responsible for violence and harassment, not their victims.
“I want to ask parents: when your
daughter turns 10 or 12 years old, you ask ‘where are you going? When will you
return?’ [But] do the parents dare to ask their sons ‘where are you going? Who
are your friends?’ After all, the rapist is also someone’s son,” Modi said.
Padukone has said her stance is “not
about being a celebrity”. She told the news channel NDTV: “I am standing up for
all the women and all the girls … in India and around the world.”
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