ONE of the most interesting looking theatre pieces being staged is To Be A Young Man at Queen Elizabeth Hall, The Southbank Centre, in London on May 26. The original play inspired by British Asian singer Nadine Shah’s debut album, Love Your Dum and Mad, dives into the themes of grief, mental health, complexities of friendship and power of creativity. The play will be followed by a short live gig.
The video digitally manipulated Janhvi’s appearance
Janhvi Kapoor has broken her silence after an AI-morphed video featuring her likeness sparked outrage online, describing the misuse of technology to objectify women without their consent as “deeply violating”.
The video digitally manipulated Janhvi’s appearance from the Chuttamalle music video from Devara: Part 1, altering her likeness to depict her in sexually explicit circumstances. It was circulated widely on social media before being removed.
Addressing the controversy on Instagram Stories, Janhvi said the incident was part of a wider problem facing women both online and in the real world.
“The criminal misuse of technology to objectify women and circulate fictionalised content without consent is deeply violating, bordering on sexual assault,” Janhvi wrote.
She said women in the entertainment industry have faced similar experiences and warned that the problem is increasingly affecting women more broadly.
Janhvi stressed that consent should not be complicated or open to interpretation. She compared the situation with physical violations, pointing out that a woman’s clothing, previous choices or past consent never give anyone permission to violate her boundaries.
“What a woman is comfortable with, where she draws the line and what she chooses to do with her body are decisions that belong exclusively to her,” she said.
The actress also connected the incident to the wider reality of being a woman navigating safety, judgement and unwanted attention.
She said women are constantly negotiating where they feel safe and where their boundaries lie, adding that this threat has now expanded into the digital world.
Janhvi argued that society has yet to adequately address the physical fears women experience every day, while technology has created another space in which their images and identities can be exploited.
She ended her statement by asking whether it is really too much for women to expect to be treated as human beings, stressing the importance of protecting their bodies, images, boundaries and choices.
Janhvi also thanked Jr NTR, Chiranjeevi, Vijay Deverakonda and Khushbu Sundar for publicly supporting her after the AI-generated video surfaced.
She expressed particular gratitude to Jr NTR for condemning what she described as a violation, saying that when influential figures speak up about issues affecting women, it can make a difference to others who have experienced similar behaviour.
She also thanked Chiranjeevi, Vijay and Khushbu for amplifying calls for action against the practice.
The AI-morphed clip used footage of Janhvi from Chuttamalle, the popular song from Devara: Part 1, which was released in 2024. The film stars Jr NTR and Janhvi in the lead roles, with music by Anirudh Ravichander and vocals by Shilpa Rao.
