After Deepika Padukone lashed out at a leading daily's questionable headline ("OMG: Deepika Padukone's cleavage show") in her open letter on Facebook, a point of view justifying the 'cleavage row' has been released by the publication.
Padukone, who had first slammed the daily on Twitter posting , "YES!I am a Woman.I have breasts AND a cleavage! You got a problem!!??," wrote in her letter that she has no issue in celebrating her body, but the lines between reel and real shouldn't be blurred.
"I have no issue celebrating my body and I have never shied away from anything on-screen to portray a character. In fact my next character portrayed is a bar dancer (sorry Farah for the spoiler!) who titillates men as a means to support her livelihood. My issue is you propagating the objectification of a REAL person, and not a character being played," she wrote.
Calling Padukone a 'calendar girl' and someone who has willfully flaunted her body off-screen, the daily heavily criticized the actress' take on the 'cleavage row'.
"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?," added the report.
Reducing the actress' stance to a perfectly-timed publicity stunt, the article stated, "Despite having made your point on Twitter, you have chosen to re-tweet every message and given as many interviews as you could. This has obviously been great publicity for you, timed perfectly with the release of your new film. The video's been on YouTube for a year, why object now?."
The daily might have mowed over the "Happy New Year" star's stand on the issue, but she continues to draw support from friends, colleagues and fans.
Here's what some of the known personalities have tweeted:
"No matter what a woman chooses to wear or not, it's not an invitation. Neither to gawk-at/molest her, nor to point a camera down her blouse," Vishal Dadlani.
"Please Times of India. Stop! For the love of god, don't say anything else," Gaurav Kapur.
"That's the first time I've even said Bombay Times on radio!! I'm so pissed with their response to @deepikapadukone I broke an unspoken rule!," RJ Malishka.
"Dear TOI ... PLEASE GET WELL SOON .. What a f*** all stand to take!," Sneha Rajani.
"Dear TOI @deepikapadukone doesn't have a problem flauntg her cleavage – she has one with you sensationalizing it #IStandWithDeepikaPadukone," Pooja Desai.
"for a fashion story, 'XYZ in plunging neckline designed by ABC'. No one would've a prob. OMG is moral judgment. Wish TOI understood the diff," Rituparna Chatterjee.
"TOI logic that if a woman shows her cleavage she has no right to dignity is a rapist's logic too! #PleaseCancelMyTOISubscription," Aalif Surti.
Padukone, who has been on a rigourous tour with the "Happy New Year" cast and crew, hasn't responded to the daily's take as yet.
