Kantara actor Sapthami Gowda calls out paparazzi over ‘inappropriate angles’: ‘Clear violations of dignity’

She continued, “We are here for our craft. We are here for our cinema. We unequivocally condemn deliberate zoom-ins and inappropriate angles. They are clear violations of dignity and will not be normalized or tolerated. We expected those covering events to maintain professionalism, basic respect, and decency.”

Concluding her note, she added, “We stand united in setting this boundary. We stand in solidarity with every woman who has experienced this – and we will continue to support one another in demanding respect.”

She signed off with the hashtag ‘actors not objects.’

A wider conversation in the industry

Sapthami Gowda is not alone in raising this concern. In the past, actors such as Janhvi Kapoor, Mrunal Thakur, Zareen Khan, Nora Fatehi, and Ayesha Khan have also spoken about being objectified by paparazzi cameras that zoom in on their bodies at events.

ALSO READ: Mohanlal once considered becoming a monk and travelling to Himalayas on foot after losing lakhs producing flop movies: ‘What is this cinema?’

When Janhvi Kapoor spoke about the issue

In an earlier conversation with SCREEN, Janhvi Kapoor had admitted that while she shares a friendly rapport with paparazzi, she has grown increasingly conscious about how she is photographed.

She said that although regular videos are often shot, the thumbnails or cover images sometimes use “the picture with the wrong angle” because it appears more sensational and works as clickbait — “especially when it is a woman.” Janhvi revealed that the scrutiny has affected her confidence in public spaces.

“I can’t even walk confidently because there is a constant commentary going on in my head that ‘bachke rehna galat angle aa sakta hai (be cautious you are being clicked from wrong angles)’. It’s sad, unfortunate, and I hope better sense prevails. It’s not respectful,” she said.

She also shared a personal experience where some photographers would ask her to wave goodbye, only to capture images from behind. “There was a phase when I would happily say ‘bye’ without realising why they are asking me to do that. Now I feel how stupid I was. Then there are comments on how I was intentionally trying to show these angles. The judgement around a woman’s clothes, character, sexuality is so sensitive, it’s exhausting. I hope we can come to a place where the media, the paparazzi are more cognizant of these things,” she added.

Mrunal Thakur also called out paparazzi

Similarly, Mrunal Thakur had also opened up about how her parents feel uneasy seeing photos of her, especially those taken from inappropriate angles.

She told iDiva that she eventually had a direct conversation with paparazzi about the issue. Referring to a message from her mother, she said, “kiti pan dhaaklele kapde ghaatle tari pan te loka focus tithech kartat (however you dress up, they focus there only).” Mrunal recalled thinking whether she should stop getting photographed altogether or change her route to avoid cameras.

“But I just told them that I respect your profession and you need to respect me and my identity, my character and who I am because when my relatives and family friends see, it doesn’t leave a good impression, not on me, not on the page it is uploaded on. So, they’ve understood and I am really happy that there are people who are also talking about it, that they are not comfortable. I don’t know why others don’t talk. Maybe they are okay with that, they can go and pap them that way, not us,” she added.

About Sapthami Gowda

Sapthami Gowda began her career with filmmaker Duniya Suri’s Popcorn Monkey Tiger. However, it was her performance in Kantara, directed by Rishab Shetty, that brought her widespread recognition.

Since then, she has appeared in The Vaccine War, directed by Vivek Agnihotri, as well as the Kannada film Yuva. She was most recently seen in The Rise of Ashoka, starring opposite Sathish Ninasam.