Janhvi Kapoor addresses consent and digital harassment in response to AI-generated content

She explained that consent isn’t a debatable, complicated issue and must not be treated as such. "Consent, choice and respect for a woman's body should be among the most basic notions of humanity, yet somehow, they continue to be treated as complicated. They are not."

She called attention to the fact that a person may not consent to the same thing at different points in her life – and that is her indisputable right. She said, "It is surprising that it still seems too nuanced for some people to understand that even if a woman says yes five days in a row and no on the sixth, that no must be respected. If she happens to wear a miniskirt, it does not give anyone permission to put a camera up her skirt, capture violating angles or visually exploit her body. What a woman is comfortable with, where she draws the line and what she chooses to do with her body are decisions that belong exclusively to her. This is basic."

She added: "This goes far beyond the AI videos I have dealt with over the last few days, or anything I have personally experienced throughout my career. It is about the larger reality of being a woman, the gaze, the judgement, the constant negotiation for safety, and the feeling that our boundaries somehow remain open to interpretation. That threat has now expanded into the digital sphere, when we have not even adequately addressed the very real, physical fear that continues to disrupt the lives of women every day."

Janhvi stressed that their needs to be an overhaul in the way society thinks about women. "The answer cannot simply be to "protect your daughter." We also need to undo the conditioning that makes people believe they are entitled to violate somebody else's boundaries in the first place, and part of that change will come from exemplary men. With the moral compass and the spine to say clearly what is right and what is wrong," she said.

"I am deeply touched by NTR sir for taking such a strong stand and condemning this violation. Thank you, sir. When someone whom millions look up to speaks up about something that may not directly concern him, it makes a difference to every woman who has experienced some degree of this behaviour,” she wrote.

"Thank you also to Chiranjeevi sir, Vijay and Khushbu ma'am for amplifying that sentiment and calling for action against this mentality and these immoral practices. I hope everything unfolding around us right now forces those who participate in any form of harassment to introspect. Is it really too much for a woman to ask to simply be treated and seen as a human being?"