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Abhay Deol Calls Out One Of His Own Films Raanjhanaa For Glorifying Sexual Harassment
Abhay Deol is one of the few actors in Bollywood who doesn't fear to call a spade a spade! The actor often takes to his Instagram page to voice his opinion unapologetically.
Recently, the Dev D actor called out one of his own films for glorifying sexual harassment. Abhay slammed Aanand L Rai's Raanjhanaa for its regressive message, and pointed out several insights from the film as suggested by a blogger on Instagram.
Starring Sonam Kapoor, Dhanush and Abhay Deol, the film over the years, has often been discussed for normalising stalking. In the film, Dhanush's character Kundan is seen routinely stalking Sonam Kapoor's character in the streets of Banaras.
Abhay Deol Says History Will Not Look Kindly At Raanjhanaa
The actor wrote in his post, "Such clear and valid insight from @oldschoolrebel9 regarding the film Raanjhana. History will not look kindly at this film for its regressive message."
Abhay Deol Accuses Raanjhanaa Of Glorifying Sexual Harassment
"It's been a theme in Bollywood for decades, where a boy can (and should), pursue a girl until she relents. Only in cinema does she do that willfully. In reality we have seen time and again that it leads to sexual violence of some sort. Glorifying it on screen only leads to blaming the victim, as @oldschoolrebel9 explains it so brilliantly. Please do take time out to read her observations in the pics above. #shedoesnotlikeyou #growup #gloryfyingsexualharrasment," he wrote in his post.
When Aanand L Rai Defended His Film
Post Raanjhanaa's release, noted columnist Shobhaa De had bashed the film for glorifying stalking. Reacting to her allegations, Aanand L Rai had said in one of his interviews with Rediff, "How do I respond to this? I really don't want to even react to an opinion so absurd and myopic. Has she seen Varanasi (where the film is set), felt its pulse? Does she know what the city is all about? Does she understand the feelings of the young in the small cities where two people still cannot go out on a date? There's a life beyond metropolises that some people, who have grown up in the metros, cannot understand. And I don't see the need to explain myself to them. How I treat the theme of love is entirely up to me."
Meanwhile, Swara Bhasker Had Admitted That The Film Glorified Stalking
The actress who played the role of Bindiya in the film, had said in an interview in 2019, "Bindiya was one of my favourite characters and I really liked that film. My boyfriend (writer Himanshu Sharma) had written it. When it came out, it got panned by feminists for glorifying stalking. The film was accused of passing off stalking as kind of cute."
Swara said that for a long time, she refused to believe that Raanjhanaa showed stalking through rose-tinted glasses. However, eventually, the actress said that she realised that there was some merit to the argument.
Meanwhile, the netizens appreciated Abhay Deol's honest take on his film.
