Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has courted trouble from women’s groups, activists and political parties for his International Women’s Day tweet about actress Sunny Leone, a former adult entertainer.
“I wish all the women in the world give men as much happiness as Sunny Leone gives,” Varma, who is known as RGV, tweeted on Wednesday.
Reactions came swift and fast.
As criticism snowballed, Varma tweeted further: “The negative noise towards my tweet on Sunny Leone arises from ultimate hypocrisy. She has more honesty and more self-respect than any women.”
Nationalist Congress Party senior leader Jitendra Awhad hit out at him: “RGV apologise or face the consequences. We don’t mind taking law in hand.”
Undeterred, Varma shot back nonchalantly: “Great @PawarSpeaks (NCP President Sharad Pawar) should kick you out for threatening to take law in hands in our sovereign democratic country. You are a disgrace to his ideals.”
Unfazed, Awhad warned that if Varma didn’t apologise, he would lodge a formal police complaint against the filmmaker.
Late on Wednesday, social activist Vishakha Mhabrey lodged a complaint with Mapusa police station in Goa, demanding Varma’s Twitter account be blocked.
She also demanded that an offence should be registered against him under the cyber laws and the Indian Penal Code for victimisation of women.
Not cowed down, Varma continued his tweets: “Filing counter against OverActivist with 212 followers which would be her family and friends, for disrespective 18 lakh (1.8 million) followers of Sunny Leone.”
NCP spokesperson Vidya Chavan warned that if Varma failed to apologise, they would beat him up with footwear.
The Film Studio Setting & Allied Mazdoor Union, with over 50,000 members, jumped into the controversy on Thursday by starting a boycott of Varma on his tweets.
On Thursday, Prateeksha Korgaonkar, state convenor of Ranaragini, the women’s wing of the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti in Goa, too filed a complaint against Varma with the Goa State Women’s Commission.
“Was just expressing my feelings but I apologise to all who were offended due to my unintended insensitive tweets in context of women’s day,” the director finally tweeted on Thursday night. “My apology is only to those who genuinely got offended and not to those who ranted for publicity and threatened to take law into their hands.”
