As a woman, I demand respect; Sexy Durga is not a porn film. Period! Rajshri Deshpande

Sexy Durga’s director Sanal Kumar Sasidharan was recently threatened with dire consequences by right wing activists for the film’s title.
Now its lead actress Rajshri Deshpande has also come out with revelations of being the target of obscene messages and threats on social networking sites.
Rajshri, who plays Durga in the road movie that explores the collective attitude of men in our society towards women, sits with us for a candid chat, revealing how apt her film’s content is for the current state of affairs.
How long can I ignore such obscene messages?
Ever since Sexy Durga hit the headlines, I have been receiving obscene and vulgar messages on my social networking pages. They have been sending me porn video clippings and asking me how I dared to take up a movie like Sexy Durga, being a Brahmin? In Bhopal a case has been filed against the movie by right wing activists. My mom who is just recovering from a surgery is worried as she has been receiving a lot of phone calls from them demanding that I return home.
I feel bad about such a mentality. How many women in the entertainment industry gets the security they deserve? As a woman I demand respect. Just because I am an actress and played that role, doesn’t mean that I have to take everything from people around. Why should I be forced to see the different names those men use to address women’s private parts, when I open my social media page? My actress friends are asking me to ignore the message, but ignoring something beyond a limit is a crime!
Even the so-called progressive people criticise me for acting in the film
What is even more disturbing is that even my close friends tell me with a double entendre accent ‘Oooo! Are you gonna be too sexy in it?’ when I tell them the title of the film. Sexy Durga is not a porn film! Period.
Many of the popular figures whom I thought are very progressive too have asked me how I could act in film with such a title. My heart goes out to all actresses who have had to face such treatment. If anyone does an item number she is treated like a porn star.
We all here to tell stories and we are doing our job. They should understand that it is not easy to do an item number or a sexy scene. People forget about our emotions, they think anything can be said and done to an actress.
My mom who is from a small town is more progressive than them
It was after I did Angry Indian Goddesses by Pan Nalin that I was approached by Sanal Kumar Sasidharan for Sexy Durga. And when I casually mentioned the movie’s name to my mom, she was all excited. “Wow, after playing angry Lakshmi, you are going to be sexy Durga… Interesting!’’ I was surprised by her remark.
Being from the small town of Aurangabad she turned out to be more open minded than the ‘intellectuals’. She is someone who has spent most of her life inside the four walls and still she could see things objectively.
Nothing can stop me from taking up bold roles
In my opinion complaining or cursing will not create a change. Instead we should personally work for it by creating awareness and educating people. Most of the social media abusers are faceless people and if we block an account, they will create another one!
In my debut Malayalam movie, Haram, I had a scene which was a bit erotic, and soon after the film was released my clippings were shared on the internet with the tagline ‘Rajshri Deshpande hot scenes’. I type my name and there comes, Rajshri sexy navel! The same happens with every actress and I have no words to express the humiliation we go through.
I think my works should answer them. We should screen our films to these people and show them there isn’t anything that needs to be disrespected. Nothing can stop me from working or taking up bold roles!
Up next…
I am doing a theatre project with Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Three of my films, one in Marathi, another in Malayalam by Jiju Anthony and a Hindi film along with Ayesha Takia are waiting for release. Also, I am working on a Hindi and a Marathi movie.