Actor-model Mehreen Pirzada, who recently made her OTT debut with Disney+ Hotstar's web series Sultan of Delhi, recently criticised social media trolls and the mainstream media for describing a brutal marital rape scene in the show as a 'sex scene'.
The actor took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a lengthy statement regarding the same.
Mehreen wrote on X, "Disney Hotstar. I hope my fans have enjoyed watching the series. Sometimes scripts demand certain actions which might go against your own morals. As a professional actor who considers acting an art and at the same time a job, one has to do certain scenes which are not palatable if they are part of the story’s narrative."
"There was a scene in Sultan Of Delhi that depicted a brutal Marital Rape. It pains me to see that a serious issue like Marital Rape has been described by many in the media as a 'Sex Scene.' This trivializes something that is a serious issue that many women the world over are currently dealing with. It disturbs me that a certain section of the media and people on social media have picked upon this, these people should understand that they have sisters and daughters too and I pray to god they never have to go through such trauma in their own lives as just the thought of such brutality and violence against women is repugnant," she added.
She concluded her note by saying, "As an actor it’s my job to do justice to the role and the team of Sultan Of Delhi helmed by Milan Luthria Sir were extremely professional in making sure that we as actors at no point were uncomfortable or exposed during the shooting of some very difficult scenes. I hope as an artist to do my best in every role for my audience, be it Mahalakshmi, Sanjana or Honey. Peace & Love to all of you."
Have a look at her post here:
Several netizens praised the actor's post and expressed their support for Mehreen's views.
Sultan of Delhi is helmed by Milan Luthria and stars Mehreen, Mouni Roy, Anupriya Goenka, Harleen Sethi, Sunil Palwal, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Vinay Pathak, NIshant Dahiya, and Anjum Sharma, among others.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)