BHUBANESWAR: In yet another controversial episode for comedian Papu Pom Pom, his upcoming movie ‘Mr. Kanheya’ received flake from all corners for demeaning women in one of the posters.
The movie, which is scheduled to be released before Ganesh Puja, shows Papu holding multiple strings on one hand while the other ends of those strings are connected to seven girls.
In a social media post, he said, “This is all wrong. I have mother and sisters. I would never do such a thing. Some miscreant has used a picture from the movie and made this poster. I have clarified with the producers and they said that the production house is not responsible. I cannot stay silent anymore. This is not an official poster.”
Odisha speedster Dutee Chand and others had criticised the actor and the production house. A student Naimisha said, “The poster clearly objectifies women. Their ‘strings’ are in the hands of a man. The silence of MPs and MLAs over the issue is quite unfortunate. I wonder whether the WCD department will condemn it. I also appeal to the Women Commission to look into it.”
Filmmaker Swastik Choudhury said, “In every situation, there is somebody who exploits a sentiment and there are others who get exploited. In this case, the public has been exploited. If we don’t take action against such films, the Odia movie industry will never take a turn for the better. As a person living in this society I feel so terribly ashamed and offended at the audacity of the makers to publicly come out with such posters and cinema.”
Amartya Bhattacharya said, “Firstly, it’s the fault of those viewers who encourage these distasteful films. The producer, actors and director might have felt that they can impress a section of viewers with such derogatory posters. The viewers must strictly stop encouraging such films. It will be harsh to put the blame on actors. I will rather blame the director for such thought.”
Meanwhile, many compared the poster with scenes from ‘Pyar ka Punchnama’ where actors were seen wearing a dog’s leash held by the girls. They stated that a movie should be seen only in terms of entertainment.
Arindam Ganguly, OP
