KWK 9: Janhvi Kapoor dances seductively with Varun Dhawan, talks about sexual objectification in Peddi; fans call her hypocrite

Karan Johar’s Koffee With Karan third episode was like a calm yet chaotic breeze after two heavy episodes, especially the last one featuring Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna. The third episode saw Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor grace the coffee couch one last time, with Arjun Kapoor being a special guest on the show. There was banter, candid talks, jaw-dropping revelations, and an amazingly wonderful rapid-fire round.

For Koffee With Karan, Janhvi wore a sparkling and dazzling golden mini dress, baring it all with a daring deep neckline and a thigh-high slit. She looked like a bombshell.

At Koffee With Karan, Janhvi Kapoor spoke about getting trolled and mentioned that all of this has made her emotionally strong enough to deal with so much online trolling. During a fun segment, Janhvi danced to SRK’s song Jhoome Jo Pathaan with Varun Dhawan. The actor was seen dancing exuberantly, lifting her thighs and dancing seductively. In fact, she kept going near Varun quite inappropriately, and Karan and Varun both tried to stop her, but Janhvi didn’t care and kept showing her thighs purposely.

Netizens called out Janhvi for her vulgar dance.

A user wrote, “The way even Karan looked done with Janhvi’s hot girl act, he told her to go back. ‘What are you doing, Janhvi?'”

Another user said, “She literally doing sexual stuff here and crying over Peddi that ‘how could they show me like that’ “

“Girl was trying to look hot even while doing the Jhoome Jo Pathaan step.”

Janhvi speaks about Peddi controversy

Janhvi opened up about the sexualisation and objectification of her character in Ram Charan’s Peddi. Addressing the controversy, Janhvi said it had taken a toll on her and that she was upset.

Karan Johar said, “It takes a lot of strength to deal with all the internet craziness that you have been subjected to in the last one or two years. Everybody knows Janhvi Kapoor is sexy; there’s a difference between being sexy and being sexualised. So, what happened with the Peddi controversy? I know it really affected you in more ways than one because I spoke to you on the day it happened.”

Janhvi interrupted him, saying, “You spoke to me through that process.”

Karan further asked about the two sections of people: one that sympathised with the sexualisation of her character’s portrayal, and the other that said, “Oh, but she was on that set. Why didn’t she stop?” He asked Janhvi what she felt about it.

Addressing the controversy publicly, Janhvi Kapoor revealed why she was apprehensive about talking about the issue. She said, “I felt many things, Karan. The reason I was so apprehensive to talk about it was that many people worked hard on that film, and I really didn’t know what to say or if there was anything really to even say because it’s important that I take ownership from my half of… whatever that fiasco was because it weighs heavily on my conscience; the sort of negative impact and a narrative like that can have on our society, specific to my gender. I think that shame I will always carry with me. Could I have done more? Could I have been more vigilant? Could I have made a bigger scene? A hundred per cent, yes. Was it problematic? Was it extreme objectification? Did it even propagate sexual assault narratively? Yes.”

Janhvi continued, “The only thing that I can do is to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. I went through the beats of really beating myself up over ‘I should have been more vigilant. I should have made a bigger scene.’ Again, I don’t like saying this because it sounds like I am shifting blame, but you know how it’s like, ‘Yes, whatever the director says, you have to be professional, you have to listen to the director.’ So, I was really navigating how to make things less problematic as best I thought, as and when information was becoming available to me, because in the South, there’s very rarely a bound script, and very rarely do you see in those scripts where the camera angles are. But having said that, I also need to take responsibility for my half of it. I do come from a place of privilege; I should have taken advantage of that because I am going to get the sh*t for being privileged anyway. So, I might as well have leveraged it.”

What is the Peddi controversy?

The controversy erupted after Janhvi Kapoor’s first-look song from the Telugu film Peddi, starring Ram Charan, drew criticism online over the way her character, Achiyyamma, was presented. Several viewers objected to the sexualised portrayal of the character, arguing that the visuals and choreography crossed the line into objectification. Following the controversy, director Buchi Babu Sana apologised to viewers who felt uncomfortable and said changes would be made to the disputed portions.