Kriti Sanon has broken her silence on the Raksha Bandhan jewellery ad that was pulled after an online backlash over her outfit. Her account is less about the deleted campaign and more about where the abuse travelled next.
What Kriti said
On Kareena Kapoor’s chat show What Women Want, Kriti said she normally avoids commenting. This time, she said, the controversy felt bigger than one ad: it was about how women are policed for everyday choices, from what they wear to how they look.
She described a double standard bluntly. People who repeatedly invoke culture and respect were, she said, the same ones leaving abusive comments on her parents’ and sister’s social media posts.
“What is with the hate?”
Her sister suggested switching off comments. Kriti asked why the family should have to hide. “Actors are the easiest targets,” she added, arguing that public figures are human and the hostility does land.
The ad that set it off
The jewellery brand’s Raksha Bandhan spot showed Kriti in a bralette and skirt while tying a rakhi. Some viewers also objected to a moment of her tying a rakhi to a pet dog.
The fallout moved quickly:
- The brand eventually took the advertisement down.
- Kriti had already defended the ad on Instagram, saying a festival’s meaning lies in emotion and tradition, not clothing.
- She said she and her sister tie rakhis to each other, and include their dogs as family.
- Criticism then reached her parents’ and sister’s pages.
Why it matters
The campaign may have disappeared, but the pattern Kriti described is familiar in Hindi cinema. Female actors face disproportionate scrutiny over outfits and festive messaging, while the conversation rarely asks the same of men in the frame. By naming gender inequality and deep-rooted patriarchy, she reframes a single ad row as a longer-running industry problem.
What she wants to see change
Kriti’s response is a call for women to stand up rather than normalise abuse. Instead of accepting her sister’s advice to mute the noise, she pushed back. Her larger point: abuse should not be managed by the people receiving it.
For fans, the takeaway is simple. A brand can delete a campaign, but the people targeted by the backlash do not get to delete the comments about their family.
Source: Hindustan Times