Actor Swara Bhaskar had recently written an open letter expressing her disgust on the portrayal of women in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat. In her letter, Swara had blamed Bhansali for glorifying jauhar and sati.
While many including actor Soman Kapoor appreciated her letter, singer Suchitra did not react kindly and indulged in what was widely perceived to be slut-shaming of Swara.
Suchitra wrote, “Funny that an actress who can play an erotic dancer/prostitute with such elan should feel like a vagina after watching a story of a pious queen. What standards are these… tch tch.”
Funny that an actress who can play an erotic dancer/ prostitute with such elan should feel like a vagina after watching a story of a pious queen . What standards are these …tch tch
— Suchitra Krishnamoorthi (@suchitrak) January 28, 2018
Suchitra’s comments evoked angry reactions from many slamming her for slut-shaming Swara on Twitter;
Horrified at @suchitrak slut-shaming award-winning actress @ReallySwara basis her roles. Yes Suchitra, “when arguments fail, attack the person; if female, hint that she’s a prostitute” is old misogynist-troll SOP. pic.twitter.com/iqZemconY8
— Prasanto K Roy (@prasanto) January 29, 2018
I am not surprised that Suchitra doesn’t understand ‘acting’. She never did. ? https://t.co/EkkRZ9b0OT
— Gaurav Pandhi (@GauravPandhi) January 29, 2018
Funny that you think a ‘prostitute’ doesn’t have a right to feeling like a whole human being and not a vagina. These are basic, human standards that you should very well be aware of. Fairly sure you can try to have a smidge more nuance in your life, Suchitra. https://t.co/pxwrZ5VhA0
— Harnidh Kaur (@PedestrianPoet) January 28, 2018
The concept of CONSENT is alien to a lot of women too, it seems. @suchitrak seems to have a long way to go. There is zero “pious” in committing suicide over being violated. If anything, it screams insufficient support to victim to cope with trauma. https://t.co/7jGLnDBGjn
— Vidyut #DestroyTheAadhaar (@Vidyut) January 29, 2018