Sona Mohapatra isn't holding back. The singer has fired a pointed critique at the recent uproar surrounding Janhvi Kapoor's heavily sexualised appearance in Telugu film 'Peddi', calling out how the industry frames women on screen.
In her reaction, Mohapatra highlighted a systemic problem: heroines are routinely reduced to mere "decoration to be sexualised and objectified," while the films dress up controlling, aggressive male behaviour as romance. It's a pattern that runs through cinema for decades.
The 'Teri Ore' hitmaker's critique cuts deeper than this one film. She's pointing to a broader cultural issue where audiences have been conditioned to mistake possessiveness for passion and dominance for devotion. When a hero corners a heroine or ignores her boundaries on screen, the music swells, the lights dim, and we're told it's love.
Janhvi's casting in 'Peddi' sparked immediate conversation about how female actors are being presented in regional cinema and whether their agency matters in the creative process. The film's marketing focused on her appearance rather than her craft.
Mohapatra's intervention adds weight to what many voices in the industry and beyond have been saying: it's time to interrogate the narratives audiences consume and the messages they send. The conversation isn't about policing films or censoring creativity. It's about recognising when sexualisation and objectification are being sold as entertainment, and when toxic behaviour is being romanticised as storytelling.
The 'Peddi' row may fade from headlines, but Sona's message remains: cinema carries responsibility. Audiences deserve better than having their understanding of love warped by decades of problematic framing.
