Anubhav Sinha is currently in the news due to his first web series IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack. The director, who returned to the world of storytelling after a long 27 years, actively promoted the Netflix series leading up to its release on August 29. During a promotional event, Anubhav was seen taking permission from his ‘dear friend’ Dia Mirza before placing her hand on him. Over her shoulder to pose for photos. This style of experience went viral.In an exclusive conversation with Indianexpress.com, Anubhav opened up about the incident. The director also talked about the ongoing discussion about women’s safety and said, “We are not raising our children well.”
When informed that his gesture of seeking consent from Dia has become a topic of discussion, the director told Indianexpress.com, “What is strange is that Dia and I have not talked about this yet. I don’t know what’s viral about it.” Elaborating further, she said, “I placed my hand on her shoulder and suddenly I felt that I had to take her permission to do so and I did so. I don’t know what drama is there in this. I have placed my hand on that woman’s shoulder many times.
“Diya and I have a very old relationship. In our personal life, I don’t need (to seek his permission),” he said.
Recalling a picture of himself with Dia Mirza on his Instagram, Anubhav Sinha said that, “There is another picture of me and her which I posted on my Instagram on the sets of Bhide. In that photo, my hand was on her shoulder and we were walking and talking. It was for five minutes. Again, I did not ask him for permission because I was on my set. I have that relationship with him where we can lean on each other’s shoulders. We have that trust and comfort with each other.”
He further added that, “But, it was a public place. Perhaps this is the reason why I felt like asking him this question. I didn’t realize this would get attention. If you watch the video carefully, she even laughed at me. ‘Why are you asking me?’, she said. And I said, ‘I thought I should do that,’ and then we had a fun conversation. And then we saw Vijay Varma doubled over as we had a funny conversation that, thankfully, was never recorded.
Anubhav Sinha, who has directed films like Thappad and Article 15, also shared his opinion on the ongoing discussion about women’s safety that started after the Kolkata rape murder case. He said that, “Why are we discussing women’s safety now? Why don’t we discuss the whole year? Today suddenly I heard about a rape incident in Maharashtra. I have been told that in our country a girl is raped every 16 seconds. Why doesn’t this society remain angry throughout the year?
Anubhav concluded that, “It is so sad that women have to watch. This is sad. I don’t see it that way given what’s going on in our country today. I look at it the same way I have for 59 years of my life. This is going on and will continue unless we do something about it. You know, rape is a crime, but violation through your eyes, is where it starts and it needs to be fixed. We should start teaching our children about this when they are 6, 7 years old and then after twenty years, maybe there will be a change.
Anubhav Sinha reacts to his viral video with Dia Mirza, talks about discussion on women’s safety: ‘We are not raising our children well’
