Sprinter Dutee Chand Furious Over Misogynistic Poster Of Odia Film

Dutee Chand is upset with a poster of a new film in Orissa called Mr Kanheiya, because it shows seven women tied to leashes. Featuring Tatwa Prakash Satapathy aka Papu Pom Pom, Dutee chand called it misogynistic and disrespectful towards women. The controversial poster shows women tied to leashes held by Pom Pom as though he was controlling them, depicting enslavement.

The problem is that Pom Pom is a very popular actor in the state, and one can expect such a poster to reach millions of his fans. Chand took to her Facebook page to post a video, requesting the production house to pull it down. She also requested others to help her take down such disrespectful work as she urged everyone to speak up against it.

Chand has also threaten legal action against the movie’s lead actor, Papu Pom Pom for making remarks about her sexuality and her currently complicated relationship with her family.

Key Takeaways:

• Papu Pom Pom features in an upcoming film Mr Kanheiya and the poster shows seven women tied to seven leashes held by him
• Dutee slammed the poster, calling it out as misogynistic and said that it portrays women as slaves
• This led to a social media feud between the sprinter and the actor with the latter allegedly making remarks about her sexuality

In a Facebook post, Chand, 23, who is also India’s first openly gay athlete, voiced up as she felt bad over Satapathy's comments. She alleged him of meddling in her personal life. She says, “Papu bhai, you claim to have expressed your personal opinion. Now, I will give you mine. If need be, I will take the help of law. I will file a defamation suit against you. I have faith in the judicial system and I am sure I will get justice.”

Chand criticised the distasteful poster of the upcoming Odia movie, Mr Kanhaiya, which is set for release during Ganesh Puja.

Responding to that post, Satapathy had commented on Chand's sexual preference. He went on to say that since she has been complaining about her mother and sister, she doesn't have any liberty to talk about respecting women.

READ: Dutee Chand Faces Backlash From Family Over Same Sex Relationship

The demeaning poster surfaced on Friday and it led to a storm of protests on social media against the depiction of women in it. Women's rights activists across the nation raised their voices against the poster. Activist Linkan Subudhi filed a police complaint against the movie’s producer, Sitaram Agarwal of Siddharth Music Productions, director Ramesh Rout, and Pom Pom.

“I protest against this poster. What kind of respect for women is this? Are women dogs for men? I urge Siddharth Music to immediately withdraw this poster,” Dutee Chand wrote in Odia on her Facebook page.

Chand, who won the 100m title at the Fifth Indian Grand Prix in Patiala last week and the country's first gold medal at the World University Games last month, referred to the actor by adding the honorific ‘bhai’ (brother) to his name and said, “A look at the poster makes it clear it is an insult to women. It shows some women being held with a number of leashes by Papubhai. It seems Papubhai thinks of himself as Lord Krishna and holding the reins like the horses in the Mahabharata war. This is a severe injustice to women.”

“Papubhai’s songs and movies have largely projected women in an insulting manner. Lines from his songs are often used by college-going boys to pass indecent comments at their female classmates. Such songs erode the dignity of the Odia language and project women in a negative light. This is why most Odia people do not like to watch Odia movies,” added Chand, who had revealed in May that she, is in a same-sex relationship with a younger relative in her village.

Pom Pom said that a few people had put it on social media with his morphed photo, criticised Chand for her protests. “Dutee Chand knows what she is… everyone knows from the recent incident how highly she respects women. So she should not be talking about women’s respect. What will she say? She is a famous sprinter, and she should first handle her own controversy. We know how much she respects women,” he said.

The actor further added, “If women marry women, then who will men marry? This is not Odisha’s culture. Her mother had brought her up by grazing cows and cutting grass, and she has spoken out against her mother.”

https://www.facebook.com/dutee.chand.3/videos/791296924600986/

Responding to the remarks, Chand said she was deeply hurt by Pom Pom’s “utterly indecent personal comments” and threatened to sue him unless he withdraws his words and apologises.

Feature Image Credit: odishatv.in

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