Actress Tillotama Shome says singer Suchitra Krishnamoorthi's comment on Swara Bhasker's open letter on "Padmaavat" was ridiculous. She feels people are free to express their opinion, but it becomes problematic when they start taking things out of context.
Tillotama was amongst the first few celebrities to speak up for Swara following the wrath she faced on social media after sharing her opinion of "Padmaavat". Suchitra and director Vivek Agnihotri were among those who raised a finger at Swara for "fake feminism" over her comment that she felt reduced to a "vagina only" after watching "Padmaavat".
Continuing to defend Swara and the freedom of expression, Tillotama told IANS: "I would like to say that Swara has just put herself out there and expressed her emotions about how she felt after watching the film and I think she is absolutely free to express that.
"What I found very strange and difficult to understand that remarks from other people like Suchitra Krishnamoorthi and Vivek Agnihotri who have completely twisted what she said out of context.
"One suggested that she can't talk about feeling reduced to a vagina... And she can't express that because she has played the role of a prostitute. That's absolutely ridiculous. I can play a prostitute or I can play a pious character on-screen and yet be entitled to an opinion, and certainly do not need to be raped to understand what a vagina feels like.
"I think whether you like what Swara has written or not is absolutely personal and you are absolutely free to express that, but I think complicating it and taking it out of context is very problematic."
Swara's critique of "Padmaavat" as a movie that glorifies Sati and Jauhar, sparked a war of words between celebrities.
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Tillotama, known for films like "Monsoon Wedding", "Qissa" and "Hindi Medium", was present on the second day of the Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) Summer-Resort 2018 edition where she opened designer label MAKU's with a special narration.
Commenting on her life in transit, Tillotama told IANS: "My dada was in air force and we just moved from one gypsy to another one and in trying to create a life of ours, we are in such rush sometimes. Home gardens have disappeared, the dogs have disappeared, the family and the sense of togetherness... One has to work really hard to recreate that in Mumbai where we are literally living in matchboxes and following our crazy passions and dreams.
"I am paying the price of it."
Is she paying the price of a celebrity?
"I don't consider myself a celebrity and have no complications so far," she said.
(Nivedita is in Mumbai at the invitation of the LFW organisers. She can be contacted at nivedita.s@ians.in)
--IANS
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