New Delhi: Janhvi Kapoor has, for the first time, reacted to the Peddi controversy. During her appearance on Koffee With Karan Season 9 alongside Varun Dhawan, the actress took ownership of the fiasco saying “that shame I’ll always carry.” She admitted that her portrayal in the film was a “violating experience.”
Kapoor starred opposite Ram Charan in Buchi Babu Sana’s Peddi, but her character, Achiyamma, became the subject of controversy over what many viewers criticised as excessive objectification and hypersexualisation. The camera angles sparked debate over the sexualisation of women on screen and the broader implications of presenting such imagery in mainstream cinema.
Though Sana later issued an apology for the actor’s portrayal, Kapoor stayed quiet. Now, she finally broke her silence on the third episode of KWK, when Karan Johar asked her about the backlash and trolling that came her way.
“I was apprehensive to talk about it because many people worked very hard on that film. I didn’t know what to say or if there was anything really to say,” she said.
The actress admitted that the controversy continues to weigh on her conscience, stressing that she felt it was important to acknowledge her part in the issue rather than distance herself from it.
“It was important that I take ownership of my half of whatever that fiasco was. It weighs heavily on my conscience that the negative impact a narrative like that can have on our society. That shame I’ll always carry,” the actress said.
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‘A violating experience’
Kapoor admitted that the portrayal was problematic, had extreme objectification, and propagated sexual assault.
“Could I have done more? Could I have been more vigilant? 100% yes. Was it problematic, was it extreme objectification? Did it even propagate sexual assault narratively? Yes. But the only thing I can do is ensure that it doesn’t happen again,” she said.
Calling Peddi a “violating experience”, the actress revealed that in the South, “very rarely there is a bound script, very rarely you see the camera angles.” However, she quickly added that her intention was not to shift the blame and she should have taken advantage of her privilege.
“I don’t like saying this because it sounds like I am shifting blame but it’s like you listen to the director and what he says. I was navigating how to make things less problematic as and when information was becoming available to me. In the south, very rarely there is a bound script. Very rarely do u see the camera angles. I should have taken advantage of my privilege. It was a violating experience in a way. The good thing that came out of it is that maybe next time a director will rethink twice before presenting a lead actress this way,” she said.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)