Nithya Menen is the latest voice to enter the conversation around the ‘Peddi’ row and the questions it has raised about Janhvi Kapoor’s portrayal in the film. The actress was candid about not having seen ‘Peddi’ but did not shy away from stating her position: she is unequivocally against the objectification of women on screen. However, she was equally firm in defending the South Indian film industry against what she felt was an unfair generalisation, making the point that objectification is a problem that cuts across all film industries globally and cannot be pinned on any one in particular.
Nithya Menen on hyper-commercialisation of cinema and objectification of women
Talking to Variety India, she said, “I feel the root of the problem lies in the hyper-commercialization of cinema. Whatever works commercially and titillates the audience is often indulged in for mass success. Is it too much? Absolutely. I wonder if actors should actually have better boundaries and the person who’s performing the scene should be able to put their foot down and say they are not okay with being objectified.“
Nithya Menen urges female actors to set boundaries from the start
Menen also spoke about the importance of actors knowing where they stand. She said she cannot imagine being pushed into doing something she is not comfortable with, adding that she has always been clear about the kind of roles and scenes she is willing to be a part of. For her, these are deeply personal decisions that depend on what an actor values and how they see their own responsibility towards their craft. She also had a word of advice for female actors, be upfront about your boundaries from the very beginning. Nithya pointed out that if someone has spent years doing a certain kind of commercial cinema and then suddenly raises objections, it becomes harder for those concerns to be taken seriously by the industry.“I also don’t believe that you end up helpless in a situation. You can assert yourself. It depends on what that person’s priority is. Are there films that I don’t get to do or genres that I don’t get to do because I don’t do certain kinds of stuff? Yes. But I am okay with it because I choose that over fame. If you only want to be a top star and are willing to do anything to get there, then that is a call you have taken,” said Nithya.
Janhvi Kapoor yet to respond to Peddi controversy
For her part, Janhvi has chosen to stay silent on the matter, and has not made any public statement addressing the ‘Peddi’ controversy so far.