Deepika Padukone and Times of India controversy; no matter what women’s respect is a priority

Deepika Padukone has received tons of support from both fans and the Bollywood fraternity, after the leading media group Times of India published a report along with a photo dedicated to the actress’s cleavage. Though the story has been removed lately, they couldn’t stop the sudden outburst on social media.

According to Indian media reports, One of Bollywood’s premier actresses has been accused of ‘hypocrisy’ after she criticised the country’s best-selling English-language newspaper for drawing attention to her cleavage. “Deepika, we accept your reel vs real argument, but what about all the times, and there have been many, when you have flaunted your body off screen while dancing on stage, posing for magazine covers, or doing photo ops at movie promotional functions? What ‘role’ do you play there? So why the hypocrisy?” senior editor Priya Gupta said in the response article. The newspaper also accused the actress of seeking to publicise her latest film.

A series of high-profile incidents in India have raised deep concerns about violence against women in the country. The representation of women in Bollywood films has been cited as one of the major factors contributing to such incidents. Whereas in such a situation the media has the power to raise awareness regarding women’s rights and women’s empowerment rather than highlighting things which are unnecessarily collecting audience attention.

Padukone has said her stance is not about being a celebrity, “I am standing up for all the women and all the girls in India and around the world,” media reported.