The portrayal of women in two recent big-budget releases, Ram Charan’s Peddi and Yash’s Toxic, has sparked debate on social media. Amid the backlash, actor Taapsee Pannu, who is currently promoting her recent release Gandhari, has weighed in on the debate, saying that the industry often blames the audience for such portrayals. In an interview with Zoom, she also called it a battle that actors cannot win without the audience’s support.
Taapsee Pannu on objectification of women in films
When asked about her views on the objectification of women in films like Peddi, and whether the continued success of such films would encourage makers to keep producing them, Taapsee said that the virtual world does not always have an impact on the real world. According to her, so-called mass films and mass genres are particularly averse to the influence of the social media world.
She added, “No matter how much noise you make, you’ll probably still find an equal number of profiles on social media using the same picture, zooming in on it, using weird angles in different kinds of videos and pictures, and kind of making it viral. So, there is an audience for that on social media as well.”
She added, “It’s demand and supply. People think ki janta maang Rahi hai toh humko dena chahiye, how else will we earn money. So art takes a back seat, craft takes a back seat. We did progress a lot before Covid where we were catching up with the best now we are again slacking. And all the makers will blame the audience and there’s where we all actors fail to give a comeback. That’s a battle we will loose and only audience has to help us win it.”
Her remarks come amid the recent backlash on social media over the portrayal of women in films such as Toxic and Peddi. In Peddi, the hypersexualisation of Janhvi Kapoor’s character drew criticism online. The backlash was particularly directed at the camera work, romantic scenes and the emphasis on Achiyyamma’s physical appearance rather than her character. The scenes were later removed from the film by the director, who also issued an apology.
The portrayal of women in Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups became a subject of debate even before the film’s release. The criticism intensified after its release, with a section of viewers accusing the makers of objectifying female characters and presenting them primarily through glamour, sensuality and their relationships with the male protagonist.
About Taapsee Pannu’s recent release
Taapsee was most recently seen in Gandhari, an action thriller directed by Devashish Makhija and written and produced by Kanika Dhillon. The film stars Taapsee Pannu, Ishwak Singh, Chhaya Kadam, Swastika Mukherjee and Mita Vashisht in key roles. It is available to stream on Netflix.