‘Peddi’ released in theatres on June 4 and faced a lot of backlash for the way Janhvi Kapoor’s character Achiyyamma was portrayed. The objectification of an actress in a film lead to criticism over social media. The film sees Janhvi opposite Ram Charan. Much of the criticism has focused on the character’s introductory scene, in which the camera lingers on different parts of her body before eventually revealing her face. Critics have argued that the sequence prioritises the male gaze and visual appeal over meaningful character establishment.Amidst this backlash, an old clip of Ratna Pathak Shah has now gone viral. The ‘Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai’ actress had said that actresses have a choice of accepting or rejecting roles which objectify. She had said in this old conversation with News18, “Everyone who decides to act in a film, every woman, I am sorry to be judgemental but every woman who decides to act in a film like Dabangg where she is made a complete object of lust and more or less, nothing else, those women should also stand up and say ‘no, I don’t feel doing a part like this’.” Pathak also acknowledged that not all women in the industry have the same financial security or freedom to reject such opportunities. Referring to the privileges enjoyed by some actors, she added, “Particularly since I have got a mummy or daddy to bankroll this, at least at this time I won’t. Silk Smitha didn’t get a chance to say that. Her family depended on her doing what she had to do. My family doesn’t depend, so why am I not standing up?”The panel discussion also featured actors Vidya Balan, Bhumi Pednekar, Swara Bhasker and Zaira Wasim. The conversation revolved around gender representation in cinema, the pressures faced by women actors and the influence films can have on societal attitudes. During the same discussion, Bhumi Pednekar stressed the importance of accountability in storytelling and revealed that she had declined several projects because she was uncomfortable with the way female characters were written. She had said, “We need to become more responsible. I completely agree considering the kind of impact we have on people, on the public, we need to know because every time you are smacking a girl’s butt, there are going to be 10 boys in a small little village in India doing the same thing and they think it’s okay.”Meanwhile, ‘Peddi’ has also sparked conversations around its romantic subplot. Some viewers have raised concerns about scenes they believe blur the boundaries of consent, arguing that behaviour framed as romance can be interpreted as normalising persistence in the face of a woman’s objections rather than respecting her autonomy and choices.
