"It's a very ugly scene and conveys a very different message."
Sunny Leone faces trouble with Indian women’s wing of Republican Party of India (RPI) after she starred in a condom advert.
The advert, which promotes Manforce Condoms, received criticism on Monday 17th April 2017.
The women’s group claims that the condom advert compares women to objects and the government should ban it from TV.
In the advert, it shows Sunny Leone dressed in a sari and seducing her onscreen husband. Before they get down to business, however, the actress ensures her husband wears a condom.
The purpose of the advert appears to encourage safe and protective sex. However, this has not stopped the RPI giving it severe criticism.
The group’s secretary Sheela Gangurde said:
“The advertising campaign objectifies the feminine gender and has proved to be a sheer embarrassment for all women viewers … It’s a very ugly scene and conveys a very different message.”
“In fact, we have received scores of complaints from women viewers, women activists and others on the ‘undesirable’ content of this and even some other advertisements promoting condoms or contraceptives, and these should be banned.”
Gangurde also added that the: “Shabby, immoral and ugly manner in which the actress seduces or sexually provokes a man in the ad to use condoms is nothing but serving immorality and a bad practice to the Indian audiences, hurting their moral ethos, ethics, religious and spiritual values.”
The party has also filed an ultimatum to the Indian government. They want the advert removed from television within a week or the government will face the consequences.
With everything else going on in the world, an advert promoting safe sex might seem an odd thing for the RPI, to create controversy about.
Conservative values in India and Sunny Leone’s appearance in the advert might have much to do with the controversy.
However, the muted reaction from other parties and outlets suggests that this issue might well blow over.
Sunny Leone herself has not commented on the issues raised by the Republican Party.
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