Weeks after making a statement on the ‘Gandhi-Ambedkar’ debate, actress Janhvi Kapoor broke her silence on how it got perceived. In her recent interview with Mashable, she disapproved of the statement being a PR stunt and called it her genuine opinion.
It all started with Janhvi’s earlier interview with The Lallantop, where she made a statement that left the internet shocked. On being asked which period of history she would like to time-travel , she replied, “ It would be interesting to watch a debate between Mahatma Gandhi and B R Ambedkar.” Her reply went viral and people expressed multiple viewpoints about it. While some accused her of making a “publicity plug”, others appreciated her viewpoint.
In her recent Interview with Mashable, she expressed her displeasure over the way society views the opinions of young actresses and clarified that her earlier statement was not aimed at publicity. She said, “Is it so hard to believe that a young female actor can have an opinion? I was so shocked….I remember people said that the entire conversation was a ‘PR plug’. I said it very normally while having a conversation with the interviewer.”
She also added, “After the interview was over, I asked my PR if I had said something wrong, and they said, maybe people might pick up on the Ambedkar versus Gandhi debate point. I started panicking because I did not want people to get it wrong and hamper the movie’s release. My PR team then called the organization that did the interview and asked them if they could chop that part, but they refused. So the irony is that my PR actually wanted to get that part removed completely, but people believed that it was planted by the PR.”
Janhvi shared how spending time with director Neeraj Ghaywan, who belongs to a Dalit community, sparked her interest in issues related to caste and class. Inspired by his stories, she decided to read Ambedkar’s “Annihilation of Caste” which changed her perspective on life.
She also expressed how she realized that she knew very little about her culture which made her more curious to know it. She said, “I thought that I am a part of society. I am a Hindu and I know so less about my culture and society. I live on Ambedkar Road and I had so little knowledge about history,”
She expressed that the youth of a nation should know about its history .“As the youth of this country, it is very important to make informed decisions for the society with knowledge about the past”, Janhvi said.
The actress will be next seen in Sudhanshu Saria’s “ Ulajh” which will be released on August 2 in theatres.