Malayalam actor Aishwarya Lekshmi has criticised social media trolling and moral policing over a glamorous outfit she wore at a diamond jewellery exhibition in May.
The actor faced backlash after appearing in a dress with a keyhole neckline. Speaking to host Ranjini Haridas, she addressed the criticism and questioned the double standards surrounding women’s clothing.
Aishwarya clarified that she was not uncomfortable with her outfit at the event. Instead, she said photographers made her uneasy by pointing their cameras at her from inappropriate downward angles rather than focusing on her face.
“They were not focusing on my face. I did get uncomfortable, and when you get uncomfortable, your body language changes as well. I felt like my personal boundaries were violated,” she said.
She added that people online noticed her discomfort but misunderstood its cause.
“People were like, ‘Why is she getting awkward? Why is she covering her neckline? Why choose a dress like that if it is so uncomfortable?’” she recalled.
Aishwarya also questioned why discussions about culture so often focus on a woman’s appearance.
“Is culture only in a woman’s cleavage or the length of her dress? It is also in the way we behave, right?” she said, arguing that people who make inappropriate remarks about women face little scrutiny while women are constantly judged for their clothes.
The actor said she initially laughed off the trolling. However, the growing volume of discussion eventually affected her.
“For the first 24 hours since the trolling started, I laughed about it. But as time went by, I was shaken by the number of discussions it was shaping into,” she said.
She then questioned why such attention was being given to her appearance instead of more serious social issues.
“Why can’t we discuss our GDP, or how many old parents are being abandoned? Why should my cleavage be subjected to such intense discussion?” she said.
Aishwarya Lekshmi, who hails from Thiruvananthapuram, is a doctor-turned-actor. She made her acting debut with the 2017 Malayalam film Njandukalude Nattil Oridavela.
She gained wider recognition after starring in Mayaanadhi the same year and later appeared opposite Fahadh Faasil in Varathan.
Aishwarya subsequently expanded into Tamil cinema with Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan franchise, which remains her highest-grossing release.
Her other films include Kaanekkaane, Ammu, Kumari, Gatta Kusthi, Hello Mummy and Maaman, in which she starred with Soori.
Her latest project is the Malayalam mystery thriller Aasha, which was released on 11 September. The film stars Aishwarya alongside Urvashi, Joju George and Vijayaraghavan.
