Janhvi Kapoor says media ‘sexualised’ her when she was 12-13 years old

Bollywood actress Janhvi Kapoor recently opened up about getting "sexualised" by media at a very young age while speaking to her Mr and Mrs Mahi co-star Rajkummar Rao and producer Karan Johar.

The video, shared on Dharma Productions' official YouTube channel, shows the actress talking about the constant objectification she faces online. She says, "I feel like this is also an aspect that I have been navigating for a long time. I think the first time I felt sexualised by the media was when I was 12-13 years old. I went for an event with mom and dad. There were pictures of me in the media and social media had just started. I found pictures of me in what seemed like a pornographic site, and boys in my school were like looking at it and laughing."

She continued, "It is a very weird thing to navigate and I have been navigating it for a very long time. I think I am very apologetic about where I come from and I need to get over that. I am sure other people deal with it in a much more different sense. I still think the way I am explaining it and my experiences of it are very privileged. But it was complicated… There is a sort of character assassination that a girl faces when she dresses in a way that makes it seem like she is comfortable with her sexuality."

Janhvi plays a doctor who is passionate about cricket in Mr and Mrs Mahi. Rajkummar Rao plays her husband in the film, who trains her to become a cricketer. The film is helmed by Sharan Sharma and will hit theatres on May 31.

Sridevi and Boney Kapoor's eldest daughter was last seen in Bawaal, opposite Varun Dhawan. She is currently also working on Ulajh, a spy thriller film helmed by Sudhanshu Saria and produced by Vineet Jain under Junglee Pictures. The film also stars Gulshan Devaiah, Roshan Mathew, Rajesh Tailang and Adil Hussain. The film will release on July 5.