Everyone with a pulse is now familiar with the facts. TOI ran an image of Padukone's cleavage, and headlined it in the voice of a pubertal halfwit in the school playground who hasn't yet experienced enough breasts to be cool about them, therefore, expressing insecurity in the form of (unsuccessfully) trying to shame the owners of breasts. Padukone spearheaded a storm of Twitter scorn, which was followed by several open letters to TOI from infuriated readers, and one red-hot skewer of a skit by the comedy group AIB (youtube.com/watch?v=jGXCjwPhoT0), recording a "Times of Boobs" edit meeting.
But most of the outrage that followed, most of it in support of Padukone, tended to sidestep something fundamental to the discussion of gaze and bodies, and that is: breasts are nice to look at. Everyone absolutely refuses to say this out loud, as if it somehow undermines the fight against objectification. People - especially actors - always feel compelled to defend on-screen sexiness with the mantra that "the character/the script demands it". But women's breasts remain on their chests off-screen, too, and women who are hanging out (if you'll forgive the expression) alone at home, or going out to dinner with friends, or stepping out to run errands also sometimes wear clothes that show some cleavage. This is not because the script or the character demands it, but because cleavage is attractive, and people who are not movie stars can nevertheless also be sexy.
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Why isn't anyone saying this? Breasts are happy-making. Men, women and children all appreciate them - sometimes for different reasons, sometimes for the same reasons. Breasts look great. A bit of cleavage can really jolly a room up. That's all there is to it. A low-cut top makes a woman feel good, and it makes anyone who looks at her feel good. It doesn't need defending, and it doesn't need any further rationale. Most actors are nice-looking people not because the script demands it, but because people are dead keen on beauty and are more likely to watch a film with nice-looking people in it. (Breasts help to sell movies and other products, but so do nice eyes or a great voice.)
A woman who displays her cleavage is very likely aware that other people will enjoy looking at it, and is probably fine with that. That does not mean that she wants people to follow her around with their tongues hanging out and their cameras down her shirt. Does she enjoy feeling a little sexy? Yes. Does she mind other people thinking she's a little sexy? Nope, even if there's no script or character demanding it, and even if she's not "from the glamour industry", whatever that is. Maybe you like her cleavage, maybe you don't. Either way, you cannot point at her chest and loudly declare that "OMG, she has one!" without coming off as a world-class moron.
It bears repeating, here, that it doesn't take cleavage to inflame human loins. Human loins are among the most flammable objects in the known universe and will ignite in response to the most unpredictable things - a lock of hair, an eyebrow, an elbow, an ankle, a laugh, the odd sheep ... there's just no telling. It boils down to whatever floats your boat. In this tinderbox of a world, all a loin can really do is have some basic manners and keep its opinions to itself.
Everyone needs to be able to believe, and say, "a bit of breast is nice", even as they roundly smack down sexism, because rejecting objectification does not mean rejecting aesthetics or sexuality. It just means that whatever your bodily feelings about cleavage (or ankles) happen to be, and while you are free to discreetly enjoy having some around, you are also expected to get a grip and maintain control of your eyeballs. Look her in the eyes when you speak to her. Speak to her as if she's a person who happens to have a nice pair, not as if she's a nice pair that happens to have a person attached. It's not that difficult, you just have to practise.
And if you still seriously use the word "slut" to describe a sexually autonomous woman, you have failed Feminism 101 and may return to the swamp you slithered out of.