‘Boondi Raita’ actor Himansh Kohli gives his opinion on the ongoing controversy around Ranveer Singh’s nude photoshoot for Paper Magazine. He opines how as a society we’re becoming more and more oppressed day by day.
Ranveer Singh’s fashion choices have always been in the news. Yet again, the actor has set the internet ablaze with his nude photoshoot for Paper Magazine. The cover of the magazine features him sitting on a carpet, nude, his hair well-groomed and the actor seems to be nonchalantly posing for the camera. His fans and netizens went crazy seeing these photos and it goes without saying how much the meme gang enjoyed the day for having got such an opportunity.
Singh’s photoshoot soon became the talk of the town and within no time there were FIRs filed on it in various parts of the country. With the controversy raging all over, Himansh Kohli opines what he thinks about the entire hullabaloo over the nude pictures.
“People earlier had a problem with him wearing ‘so-called’ outrageous outfits. He proved their notion of ‘Ranveer only stands out because of his clothes’ wrong by posing bare body, but they still have a problem. My point is that people will always have point-of-views that might not be aligned with yours. So, it’s okay to have a different opinion and do things differently. If you don't like something, don't watch it,” says the actor who would be seen in his upcoming film ‘Boondi Raita’.
For those not in the know, this photoshoot is Singh’s homage to Burt Reynolds’ iconic 1972 shoot for Cosmopolitan magazine.
Looking back, there have been obscenity cases against Milind Soman, Madhu Sapre, Sherlyn Chopra, Poonam Pandey and others for doing similar things in the past. Many are of the opinion that we are becoming extremely conservative as a society and will never accept nudity as art.
Kohli adds, “Our gods, ancestors, etc., were much more accommodative towards such sensual matters. It was never considered a taboo back then, and one can notice figures in various sex positions on temple sites and other cultural and religious artefacts. But, slowly, we are going to the limit that people aren't able to express themselves freely, and discrimination based on religion, caste, interest, etc., is rising. We are moving towards a more oppressed society; accepting nudity is out of the question.”
The actor shares that India is a culturally abundant land. “A culture respects all forms of expressions, even aspects considered evil now, like sexual, because, after all, cultures have been formed to make human beings feel satiated in their space. We call westerners bad names when they show nudity, but the same country has the highest population in the world, which makes it clear that we are no different. We should only preach what we practice; if we don’t like something, we should accommodate others’ likes and dislikes and not become resistant to the thought,” Kohli says.
Ask him about the thought process of actors when they decide to go bold for the cameras, is it for publicity, money, fame or what? And, Kohli pauses before adding, “For me, going bare body or nude is only to do with the script. If the story needs it, I would do it. Sometimes you have to do a few scenes for extra buzz, but I avoid it because I’m not a tool. As a professional, I ensure that I stay true to my art and do everything it requires, but I deny requests which I feel are not viable.”