Toxic Movie: Swastika Mukherjee defends Kiara Advani amid Yash’s ‘Toxic’ backlash, questioning, ‘why should motherhood have any bearing’: ‘Did she publish pamphlets saying I’ll only play Mother Teresa-type roles?’ | Hindi Movie News
Yash and Geetu Mohandas’ ‘Toxic: A Fairytale For Grown-Ups’ has drawn mixed reviews since its release, with its intimate sequences featuring Yash and Kiara Advani emerging as a particular point of debate. Amid the criticism, actress Swastika Mukherjee has stepped in to defend Kiara, addressing the online discourse in a recent interview with NDTV.
Swastika Mukherjee on pre-release judgements
Swastika took issue with the broader tendency of audiences forming opinions about a film before actually watching it. “As far as already forming an opinion before even seeing the work, I think we are doomed. Because there’s already an opinion about everything – more so about women and actors – before people have even seen the film. You don’t know what’s in the film. You don’t know the context. You don’t know the worth of the character. You don’t know the storyline. You don’t know how it’s been picturised. You just know that some intimacy is there, so you start your rant and your banter,” she said, adding that this pattern becomes especially pronounced when it involves women.
Swastika Mukherjee on the expectations placed on actresses
Swastika also pushed back against the idea that actresses should stick to a particular image throughout their careers. Drawing from her own experience of navigating criticism, she noted that her audience has largely stopped expecting her to conform to any fixed mould. “See, for me, my audience has now come to terms with the fact that I don’t care. So even if they say something or they don’t, they know it’s done with me. It’s been happening for too many years. But why should anybody have that expectation? Did Kiara, or the other actor, sign an MOU or publish pamphlets to the entire audience fraternity saying, ‘I’m only going to play Mother Teresa-type roles’?” she said.
The backlash Kiara Advani has faced for ‘Toxic’
The criticism around Kiara’s scenes in Toxic began even before the film’s theatrical release, with the song ‘Tabaahi’ offering an early glimpse of the intimate portions and sparking discussion online. The debate took a sharper turn when some social media users brought Kiara’s personal life into the conversation, pointing to her becoming a mother — she and husband Sidharth Malhotra welcomed daughter Saraayah Malhotra on July 15 last year. Swastika directly questioned why motherhood should have any bearing on how an actress’s on-screen choices are perceived.
Swastika Mukherjee on intimacy and normalising adult conversations
Swastika also spoke more broadly about society’s discomfort with conversations around sex and intimacy, arguing that these are simply part of adult life. “But children don’t fall into our laps. We become mothers because we are intimate with our partners. I really don’t think our country, or society in general, is progressing towards the fact that sex is normal. It’s part of everyone’s life, whether you’re below the poverty line or a trillionaire. That’s how generations move forward,” she said.
Toxic’s box office performance
Meanwhile, ‘Toxic’ continues its theatrical run despite the mixed reactions. Directed by Geetu Mohandas, the film released in theatres on August 26 and, as per Sacnilk, had collected Rs 221 crore globally, according to Sacnilk.
