Actor Lakshmi Manchu has taken a strong stand against a senior journalist for allegedly making body-shaming and ageist remarks during a recent interview. The journalist reportedly commented on Lakshmi’s clothing choices, suggesting they were inappropriate for a woman in her 40s and a mother.
Lakshmi lodges a formal complaint
In response, Lakshmi has filed a complaint with the Telangana Film Chamber of Commerce (TFCC), issuing a powerful statement, according to a news report by Cinemaexpress. “India is a country that reveres women as Shakti, yet when we step into professional spaces, we are subjected to casual misogyny, humiliation, and disrespect. This cannot continue. I owe it not only to myself but to the many young women who look up to me to call this out.”
Referring to the interview where the remarks were made, Lakshmi clarified that while she welcomes tough questions and public scrutiny as part of her career, she draws the line at “cruelty masked as journalism.”
She has also demanded a public apology from the journalist and urged the TFCC to take concrete action to ensure no other woman faces such treatment. “Respect is not optional. Accountability is not negotiable,” she stated.
Lakshmi talked about bias against divorced women
While promoting her latest film, Daksha: A Deadly Conspiracy, Lakshmi also addressed the unspoken bias against divorced women in the film industry. In an interview with Great Andhra, she highlighted the case of a superstar’s ex-wife who, according to her, has been unofficially blacklisted despite being open to work.
“There is a superstar’s ex-wife who works here. She got divorced, and since then, even films that were once offered to her have been taken away. People say, ‘Oddu le amma, aina emana antaru emo’ (Let it go, dear. What if her ex says something?). She is waiting to do good work, and I don’t need to name her.”
When the interviewer suggested she was referring to Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Lakshmi declined to confirm, adding, “You’re thinking it’s Samantha. But there’s not just one superstar; around five to six of them have been divorced. I’m close to all of them. If a man gets divorced, his life doesn’t change. But for a woman, once she marries, has children, takes on in-laws and responsibilities, no one gives us freedom. We have to take it ourselves.”
Lakshmi is currently promoting her latest thriller, Daksha: A Deadly Conspiracy, which was released on September 20.
