Actor Sanjjanaa Galrani, who has come under fire after a clip from her Kannada film Dandupalya 2 was leaked online, has slammed the media coverage of the issue.
The clip, which was removed at the certification stage at the CBFC, depicts an assault scene at a police station where Chandri, played by Sanjjanaa, is stripped by a policeman.
Though the clip portrayed a disturbing assault scene, Kannada media chose to play moral police, questioning Sanjjanaa’s morality and condemning her for playing a “hot scene”.
Speaking to TNM, Sanjjanaa says, "I felt the media coverage was uncalled for. They did not witness the shoot. They did not know that it was a computer graphics-oriented scene. It was shot very comfortably with clothes. I agree that it's a very sensitive scene but if a scene like this is required for the character I play, as an artiste, it's very important for me to do justice to it."
On Twitter, the actor has put out a tweet clarifying how the shoot was done and that she "will never shoot 100 percent nude even if it is a james bond film (sic)". She also said that during the shoot, "it just felt like wearing a glamorous short skit with western glamorous backless top, which 95 percent of heroins (sic) have worn in the entire country today."
I will not shoot 100 percent nude even if it is a James Bond film, coming in from strong Indian culture I keep in mind my limitations. pic.twitter.com/O9Bz0UB2or
— Sanjjjanaa galrani (@actressanjjanaa) July 20, 2017
Questioning the ethics of the journalists who went to town with the clip, calling it a "hot, nude scene", Sanjjanaa says that just as journalists cover Page 3 events as well as other news, she too has the professional requirement to play different kinds of roles.
"The scene was shot with sensitivity. The computer graphics have gone horrendously wrong. We're still trying to figure out who has done this whole act, who has leaked it, who made copies of it...but the media just flagged it as a nude shot! How could they do that without any substantial proof!" she exclaims.
Asked about how she felt when the assault scene was dubbed a "hot" scene, Sanjjanaa says, "It's funny...I don't know how to react to it. You now, in the same set of media people, I have friends who come home, who've had coffee with me. They've had discussions with me, they've worked with me. And the same people just turn around without any sensitivity. It's sad."
When news broke out about the leaked clip, the film's producer K Manju said, "This is a Kannada movie not a Hollywood one. We respect women in our culture and do not allow them to do nude scenes. Glamorous shots are allowed in Kannada films not nude ones, which is why it was not even included in the film."
Sanjjannaa, however, says that the Kannada film industry has been supportive.
"The entire industry knows about it. Directors and producers know how it has been made. People are intelligent enough to know how the whole thing is done," she says, adding that the incident will serve as a lesson for the industry when it sets out to make such sensitive scenes with computer graphics.
"The industry was quite sensitive. They know that this can happen to anybody and to any scene also," she observes.
Sanjjannaa is also submitting a petition to the CBFC, asking for a clip which has been censored to be destroyed instead of sending it back to the director or producer.
"It should be destroyed for good. There's no need to send it to the director or producer and then have it leaked online, for all this tamasha," she says.