Ranveer Singh grilled by the police over nude photos
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MUMBAI • Bollywood megastar Ranveer Singh was grilled by the police on Monday on charges of "obscenity" after posting naked photos of himself, in a case highlighting India's complex relationship with nudity.
Singh, 37, posted last month on social media the racy images shot for New York-based Paper magazine, sparking a media frenzy in India and resulting in multiple complaints.
Mumbai police questioned Singh on Monday morning on charges of "corrupting youth of society" and "embarrassing women", it said, and recorded his official statement.
"The inquiry is ongoing," said senior police inspector Jaykumar Suryavanshi, without disclosing details of Singh's statement.
The photos of Singh, star of hits Gully Boy (2019) and Simmba (2018) and who was stretched out naked on a carpet, provoked a storm of debate on India's television news.
"Of course, this is vulgar, we can see his bum... it's a national issue," said lawyer Vedika Chaubey during a panel show on broadcaster NDTV, days after lodging a complaint against Singh with the police.
India is home to ancient sex treatise the Kama Sutra and erotic scenes are a common sight on ancient temples.
But Singh, who is married to fellow superstar Deepika Padukone, is heading down a well-trodden path of complaints and charges against celebrities falling foul of colonial-era rules about "obscenity".
"Like they say, 'beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder'. Obscenity very much therefore... lies in the crotch of the beholder," said Supreme Court lawyer Faisal Sherwani.
Personalities hit by complaints include fellow Bollywood megastar Aamir Khan, who was naked apart from a strategically placed cassette player in a poster promoting his 2014 movie PK.
Renowned artist M.F. Husain fled the country after a painting depicting a nude woman posing across a map of the country got him in legal trouble. He died in self-imposed exile in 2011.
Earlier this year, a professor in Kolkata said she was fired after posting photos of herself in a bikini on Instagram. The university is reportedly suing her for US$12 million (S$16.8 million).
Human rights lawyer and social activist Abha Singh said the laws needed to be updated.
"(Indian) youth feel, 'What is wrong? If you don't want to see, turn your eyes, close your eyes. A piece of beauty is something which you have to appreciate'," she said.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
