Kriti Sanon's Raksha Bandhan ad row: Is the outrage really about tradition or about what women wear?
Kriti Sanon probably didn't imagine that tying a rakhi in a jewellery advertisement would result in one of Bollywood's most heated debates of the week. The actress' Raksha Bandhan campaign for GIVA has come under fire from a section of social media users. There are two principal objections. Kriti is dressed in an off-white bralette-style blouse with a cape and draped skirt, which some viewers believe is inappropriate for a traditional festival. The other objection is to a sequence where she ties a rakhi to her pet dog. Some also questioned the absence of conventional elements such as the puja thali and tilak. Kriti has not publicly responded to the criticism so far. But beneath the noise around one advertisement lies a more interesting question. Who gets to decide what an Indian woman is supposed to look like while celebrating an Indian festival? There is certainly a legitimate argument from the other side. This isn't footage from Kriti's private Raksha Bandhan cel...