Leena Yadav's Parched, a coming-of-age drama set in rural Gujarat, has been in the midst of an unsavoury controversy over the past few days.
As per reports, a key lovemaking scene from the movie, featuring Radhika Apte and Adil Hussain, has leaked online and is going viral.
Speaking to IndianExpress.com, Hussain commented that it "felt bizarre" to know that thousands of people were furtively and voyeuristically watching the clip, in which both actors are topless. "It shows how sexually obsessed a lot of people in our society are," he was quoted as saying. "You leak only the sex scene and no other beautiful scenes from the film. It only shows that we are extremely obsessed about sex and yet we don't want to talk about it. We shun it, shove it under the carpet and don't want to show it to people."
He also pointed out the inherent misogyny of the video's title, saying:
"The most interesting aspect is that the leaked videos is titled as 'Radhika Apte sex scene' and not as 'Adil Hussain sex scene'. That's because a man doing it is just another matter whereas when a woman does it, it does matter. It is only then when it becomes a sex scene. It also shows the patriarchal society that we live in. In the West, such scenes are normally shown in their films,"
The makers of the film, which includes producer Ajay Devgn, have lodged a formal complaint with the cyber cell of the police.
Parched premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival last year and also stars Tannishtha Chatterjee, Surveen Chawla, and Riddhi Sen. Having toured the festival circuit, it has already released in key markets such as the United States and France, but is yet to settle upon an India release date.
Watch the trailer below.
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