The Deepika Padukone controversy: Will Bollywood walk the talk?

Twitter never rests. Even on a Sunday, when board games and half-finished books come out and traffic in Mumbai is a little less unbearable than the rest of the week, the timeline keeps moving. This Sunday, Twitter was ablaze with talk about a video put out by a leading news website, guiding site visitors to “Deepika Padukone’s cleavage”. To everyone’s delight (and surprise), Padukone took to Twitter to lash out against the media house responsible for putting out the video.

“Supposedly India's 'LEADING' newspaper and this is 'NEWS'!!??” Padukone tweeted out with a screenshot of a tweet put out by the company’s official account, which said: “OMG: Deepika Padukone’s cleavage show!” Soon, Padukone’s several colleagues – among them, influential film personalities – started coming out in the actor’s support, condemning the responsible media house, and lauding Padukone for her stance. “We’ve hit a new low,” her co-actor Arjun Kapoor tweeted out, and “Well done @deepikapadukone ! Taken a stand for all of us. Xoxo” was Priyanka Chopra’s response to the incident. “I Stand With Deepika Padukone” started trending in no time. 

The cynics could not help smelling a rat and claimed all of this was a result of a presumably well thought-out marketing campaign that ensured the spotlight remained on Padukone, whose latest film hit theatres on Friday. I found that sentiment to be slightly misplaced – it’s impossible to ascertain if this really was a well-planned marketing gimmick by a supremely imaginative brand/marketing team employed by Padukone, but even if it was, the validity of her outrage stands. If a female actor felt violated and repulsed by what was published about her and decided to speak about it, well, good for her. 

What’s more interesting is the support she garnered from all corners of the film industry. Padukone, a mega star with multiple hits to her credit and a huge fan base, was able to get others riled up on her behalf, and while it is debatable if industry folk would have been as enthusiastic if something similar had happened with a less popular actor, Bollywood influencers speaking out is significant in many ways. 

Firstly, calling out the indecency of a media house publicly is a refreshing change from the usual silence exercised by most film stars in the face of adversity. Secondly, film folk weren’t tweeting out against just any conglomerate, but one with considerable clout across all forms of media – print, television and web – and one that’s been known, albeit infamously, to be sharing a mutually beneficial relationship with the Indian film industry, especially Bollywood. 

Unless you have been living under a rock, you have probably been introduced to the concept of Medianet at some point, wherein the concerned media house strikes a deal with a film entity – either a production house, or sometimes actors themselves – which entails the coverage of the filmmaker or actor’s movies, professional existence and/or personal life in various arms of the media house, especially the entertainment supplement of the company’s national newspaper. This is equally valuable to both parties – the publication makes a neat profit from the exchange, and the film star gets wide coverage due to the publication’s far-flung network and reach, depending on the kind of deal struck.

Even if the industry’s response in the Padukone case was purely driven by the need to show solidarity for a colleague, it would be interesting to see if the outrage transforms into any real changes in their dealings with the establishment. Would these film stars not use the entertainment “advertorial” supplement of the same organisation as a means to push their films at the time of release, and to keep themselves in the public eye throughout the year? Would many of those who felt glad that someone finally stood up to the nonsense – which essentially means the said nonsense is something everyone has been aware of for a while now – not make an appearance at the annual awards function organised by a magazine directly affiliated with the media house in question. 

It would be remarkable if Padukone – who’s displayed rare outspokenness and probably won many more admirers by lashing out against the misogynistic, salacious actions of the said organisation – and her supportive friends do something a little more than just tweet out their anger. Like, may be, disassociate with the media house they have so brazenly been critical of? 

Don’t be waiting with bated breath.

The writer is a film critic and tweets at @AniGuha