Actor Deepika Padukone recently made a video which has gone viral over the Internet, got two million views in the two days since it was posted online by fashion magazine Vogue.
The video, titled My Choice and directed by Homi Adajania of Cocktail and Finding Fanny fame, depicts Ms Padukone, 29, as a brand ambassador for women’s empowerment. The two and half minute video featured 99 women from different walks of life talking about their choices and why they have their own choices in this otherwise patriarchal society.
The video had the social media platforms divided into two halves- one which supported Deepika-Homi’s attempt at empowering the women and the other which sparked a protest against the impractical claims made in the video.
Talking about the criticism, Homi Adajania spoke to 9xe.com in defiance of his video. “They don’t understand the context or they are Internet trolls hankering for attention, or maybe they have a different viewpoint…it’s a democracy and this is our view and they are entitled to theirs”, Homi told 9xe.com
Through the video, Deepika calls for change in the mindset of men about women and urges them to stop judging the fairer sex for their choices of clothes, profession and life. “It is my choice to live life the way I want, to wear clothes I like, to decide how I want my body to be, when I want to get married or if I ever want to walk down the aisle, to decide if I want to be straight or a lesbian…,” Deepika says. The short film talks about a woman’s inherent right to make her own decisions and live freely without feeling shackled or bound. “My choice, to love a man, or a woman, or both. Remember, you are my choice. I am not your privilege,” says Ms Padukone. 
While many Bollywood celebrities have shared this video on Twitter, hailing the actress for the strong message, some didn’t think the video dealt the women empowerment issue in the right way.
Some also called her a hypocrite for promoting a cereal product to lose weight so that you don’t lose your confidence, while saying that size doesn’t matter, in the video.
A few critics talked about the Bad Script saying with words like badly written, illogical, and nonsensical script , sounds ridiculous delivered in Padukone’s thin, flat monotone.
Shortly after the video was released Brat House made a male version of it. Brat House Films has made it clear that the video is just a fun activity. But yes, it does raise a few questions about Indian standards set for a guy to be considered ‘good’.
Well, It’s a great step towards Women Empowerment but the question arises that would It make a difference?
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[…] a look at the social feed featuring #MyChoice #VogueEmpower, there has been a considerable increase in the engagement statistics of this hashtag. The Facebook […]