Women actors can always share their perspective about a scene if they feel it isn’t right, and directors will most likely admit that a group of men writing in a closed room may not have realised how problematic it could appear, says Kangana Ranaut.
The actor-politician’s comments come against the backdrop of a raging controversy over the objectification of women in cinema after scenes from the Janhvi Kapoor-Ram Charan starrer Peddi sparked outrage in several quarters.
According to Ranaut, who is promoting her new film Bharat Bhhagya Viddhaata, filmmaking is all about different perspectives coming together.
“You can bring attention to a scene and say, ‘It is coming across like this’. They may not want to objectify women because nobody sets out to make a film thinking, ‘Let’s objectify’. What I have seen is that they don’t think that way…” Ranaut told PTI in an interview.
“So, as a woman, you can share your perspective and say, ‘Yes, this is how it feels,’ or ‘It is not looking nice’. Mostly, they agree with you and say, ‘No, we actually didn’t think of it that way. As a group of men writing in a closed room, we didn’t think it would come across so badly’. These things happen. If you are working on a film and have accepted it, then it is a collaboration,” she added.
Peddi, a Telugu film dubbed into various languages, found itself at the centre of a major debate after a section of the audience criticised it for objectifying women through its camera work, dialogue, and romantic scenes between Charan and Kapoor.
One scene in particular, in which Charan’s character uses a power cut as cover to forcibly kiss Kapoor’s character, Achiyyamma, drew the sharpest criticism, with many viewers online describing the sequence as “sexual assault”.
Following the backlash, the film’s director, Buchi Babu Sana, apologised and agreed to alter the scenes.
