Janhvi Kapoor slams voyeuristic media culture, says her mother's death became a 'meme'
Mumbai (PTI): Actor Janhvi Kapoor has criticised the "voyeuristic nature" of media culture where even death gets dehumanised, something that she experienced after the death of her mother and more recently with veteran actor Dharmendra.
Speaking at the We The Women 2025 event on Sunday, Janhvi said media, especially social media, has "single handedly contributed to the complete derailment of human morality".
"The voyeuristic nature of journalism, of media culture, of social media today, has single handedly contributed to the complete derailment of human morality, and I'm seeing it more and more every day.
"It was horrible when I lost my mom. I don't know if you all can imagine what it's like to lose someone that close to you and see it become a meme. I don't even know how to compute or explain it, but it's just gotten worse," the actor told senior journalist Barkha Dutt.
Janhvi said she avoids talking about her mother, renowned actor Sridevi's death publicly, as she fears that people will think she’s using it to grab headlines. Sridevi died on February 24 in 2018 at the age of 54.
"I think the feeling and the phase that I went through during that time is something I'll never be able to verbalise. And I think that it was such an individual experience that even if I told you all everything about it... I don't know if any of you all would ever be able to relate to it, and I'm always conscious about sounding like I'm saying things to get you all to feel bad for me.
"And so I always refrain a little bit because I know everyone is opportunistic in nature, and everyone just wants a headline. And I would hate if I ever sounded like I was using such a painful part of my life and my relationship with my mother for a headline, so I think that always holds me back," she added.
She also referred to the false media reports about veteran actor Dharmendra's death on November 11. The "Sholay" star died on November 24 at the age of 89.
"We saw what happened with Dharamji and it's happened repeatedly before that. I'm sure it will only get worse," Janhvi said, adding that celebrities are equally responsible for the problem.
"I think we are part of the problem. I think every time we give videos, headlines or narratives... like views, comments, likes, every time we look for something like that, we are incentivising this culture," she said.
Janhvi said "human morality is in shambles" and it is nothing but "depressing".
"I think earlier we had a consciousness in us that stopped us from seeing certain things, saying certain things, indulging in certain practices, but that's out of the window, and it's disgusting.
"This is the modern-day crisis that we've lost our morality as a result of how voyeuristic everything has become. Someone dies somewhere, some horrible attack somewhere, you kind of want to see the things that you shouldn't see, and it gives you the strange feeling of... I guess it's that same horrible feeling of satisfaction that sometimes you get when you gossip, but it's been encouraged so much through social media," she said.
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RSS man's defamation case against Rahul: Key witness unavailable, hearing adjourned to Dec 20
Thane (PTI): A court in Bhiwandi in Thane district on Saturday adjourned the hearing in the criminal defamation case filed against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker to December 20 due to non-availability of a crucial prosecution witness.
Advocate Narayan Iyer, counsel for Rahul Gandhi, confirmed the adjournment, stating that the witness, Ashok Saykar, currently Deputy Superintendent of Police in Barshi in Solapur, could not remain present due to personal reasons.
Saykar's evidence is now likely to be recorded on December 29.
His testimony is considered key because he, as police sub inspector in 2014, conducted the preliminary inquiry into the private defamation matter under Section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
It was on the basis of Saykar's submitted report that the court subsequently issued process (summons) against Rahul Gandhi under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The criminal defamation case was filed by local RSS worker Rajesh Kunte following a speech given by Rahul Gandhi at an election rally near Bhiwandi on March 6, 2014.
The case stems from the Congress leader's alleged statement that "the RSS people killed (Mahatma) Gandhi."
The matter is being heard by Bhiwandi Joint Civil Judge, Junior Division, P M Kolse.
The hearing had previously been adjourned on November 15 after the complainant's counsel, Advocate Prabodh Jaywant, moved an application seeking permission to examine Saykar, who had submitted the probe report to the court.
The matter was originally scheduled for November 29 but was deferred to December 6 after Rahul Gandhi's legal team sought an adjournment citing their non-availability. The proceedings will now resume on December 20.
