BOMBAY TIMES (July 27, 2022)

The viral nude shoot of Ranveer Singh for a magazine shocked and broke the internet last week. However, in a considerably less shocking turn of events, an FIR was registered by Mumbai Police against the actor on Tuesday, after a complaint stated he’d “hurt sentiments of women”. After all, multiple people getting their sentiments hurt, and then raising a ruckus over it, is nothing new.

In 1995, for example, following a shoot for an advertisement campaign, a case of obscenity was filed against models Milind Soman and Madhu Sapre. They were later acquitted by a local court after 14 years of largely pointless litigation. In 2020, another case was registered against Soman under IPC Section 294 and section 67 in Goa – for sharing a nude pic of him running on the beach, on social media – which could also run for another 14 years.

Dropping your clothes isn’t the only reason for aforementioned hurt sentiments. A 2007 case of alleged obscenity is also pending against Shilpa Shetty Kundra, for ‘not protesting enough’ when hugged and kissed by Hollywood star Richard Gere at a public event. Shilpa moved court on Monday seeking dismissal of the appeal filed against her.

Globally, there are a gazillion instances of international celebs like Lady Gaga, Halle Berry, Jennifer Lopez and Pink, among others, baring it all for art, or to raise funds for various causes, or to champion body positivity. Rather than seeing such shoots as titillating or an index of depravity or voyeurism, they’re often appreciated.

Filmmaker Onir says, “Why are people getting so offended about it (Ranveer’s shoot), when the beauty of the naked body is celebrated in our culture and globally? Yes, people have the right to criticize art if it is not done well, but to call out the artist and the subject for posing nude is ridiculous.”

Actor Vishnu Vishal – who shared a series of pictures clicked by his wife, badminton player Jwala Gutta, in which he was in the buff – says, “It’s not just Ranveer, so many people before him have posted similar images. I don’t understand the logic. Not just celebrities, even the general public across the globe shares such pictures on Instagram. I understand if he (Ranveer) was completely nude. But whatever had to be hidden was hidden!”

It’s interesting to note that Ranveer’s shoot and interview were hardly meant to peddle his sex appeal, but rather expose a vulnerable, abstract and philosophical side to the star. As Ranveer put it in the interview – “I can be naked in front of a thousand people, I don’t give a sh*t. It’s just that they get uncomfortable.”

Being uncomfortable is one thing, but how is marching to the police station to file a complaint the next step to this discomfort?
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TIMES VIEW

The FIR registered against Ranveer Singh over “hurt sentiments” isn’t a first. Actors have been booked in the past for actions that have inadvertently “offended or hurt” individuals. With a huge number of cases pending with the police and the judiciary, to engage the system with complaints that offend individuals over such grounds is pointless and counterproductive. Judging people for personal choices is not acceptable. The photograph in question comes from a deep, sensitive space and is definitely not a show of Ranveer’s exaggerated masculinity and it cannot be equated with titillation. The actor displays his vulnerable side, and it should be viewed in perspective. We cannot judge and haul people to court for whatever they choose to do in their personal space. Can’t we just let Ranveer be?