Actor Sapthami Gowda, best known for her role in Kantara, has called out photographers and camera operators for taking pictures and videos of female actors from inappropriate angles at events. The actor took to her Instagram account to share a note addressing this issue, stating that the unnecessary zoom-ins draw more attention to their bodies than to their work. (Also read: Mini Mathur lashes out at paparazzo for zooming in on Kajol’s body at event: ‘She doesn’t owe you guys eternal youth’)
What Sapthami said
In her note, Sapthami began, “As women in the film industry, we stand together in addressing a recurring issue. Repeatedly, videos and photographs of female actors at public events are shot and circulated from inappropriate angles, with unnecessary zooms that focus on our bodies rather than our work. This behavior, carried out by a few individuals, is disrespectful and unacceptable.”
She added, “We are here for our craft. We are here for our cinema. We unequivocally condemn deliberate zoom-ins and inappropriate angles. They are clear violations of dignity and will not be normalized or tolerated. We expected those covering events to maintain professionalism, basic respect, and decency.”
‘We stand united in setting this boundary’
She continued, “We stand united in setting this boundary. We stand in solidarity with every woman who has experienced this- and we will continue to support one another in demanding respect.”
Sapthami put the caption, ‘actors not objects’, on her note. Concluding the note, Sapthami urged journalists and media friends to come forward and show support in raising this issue.
She is not the first actor to raise this issue. In the past, actors Janhvi Kapoor, Mrunal Thakur, Zareen Khan, Nora Fatehi, and Ayesha Khan had spoken about being objectified by paparazzi whose cameras zoom in on their bodies.
Sapthami made her debut with Duniya Suri’s Popcorn Monkey Tiger. After rising to fame with her starring role in Rishab Shetty’s Kantara, the actor starred in Vivek Agnihotri’s The Vaccine War and the Kannada film Yuva. She was last seen in the film The Rise of Ashoka, opposite Sathish Ninasam.