Ashmit Patel who has done bold photoshoots himself resonates with the thought as he too says if people don’t like it, they can always choose to not look. Ashmit also believes that Bollywood has always been a soft target, but one cannot judge an entire society based on just a handful of people filing FIRs. “There are people who say it’s not necessary. Maybe those people have a point. But it’s a personal choice. Like there are a lot of things I don’t agree with – like the objectification of women in Bollywood item numbers. I also don’t agree with how social media allows children of any age to be there. If you look at several men/women posting so many images, there are barely any clothes on them. And kids have free access to these. So we have to look at all aspects if we question where our culture is going. We can’t just pick one person and target them for nothing. It’s unfair and unreasonable,” he says.
Others like Milind Soman, Madhu Sapre, Sherlyn Chopra, Poonam Pandey too have faces similar charges in the past. Reflecting on the same, Himansh says, “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.”
Sharing his thoughts about going in the buff, Himansh adds, “For me, going bare body or nude is only to do with the script. If the story needs it, 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.”
