‘Deeply violating, bordering on sexual assault’

* Janhvi also thanked  Jr NTR, Khushbu   Sundar, Vijay Deverakonda, Chiranjeevi for speaking out against the video. The actors have condemned the misuse of  technology

Actress Janhvi Kapoor opens up about AI-altered videos from Devara: Part 1

Janhvi Kapoor on Monday said that AI-altered videos of her from Devara: Part 1 were a serious violation and a criminal misuse of technology to objectify women. She said the incident raises a larger debate about how women are constantly forced to negotiate for their safety, even in the digital sphere.

The AI-generated video of the song Chuttamalle from the Jr NTR and Janhvi Kapoor-starrer Devara: Part 1 digitally manipulates Kapoor’s appearance in the song to depict her in a sexually explicit manner. The video has since been taken down from the platforms.

In a strongly worded post on her Instagram Story on Monday, the actor said that consent, choice and respect for a woman’s body should be fundamental rights. “Using technology criminally to objectify women and circulate fabricated content without their consent is a serious violation. It is almost equivalent to sexual assault. Almost every woman in my industry has faced this in some form. Now women everywhere are becoming victims of it,” she wrote.

“What a woman is comfortable with, where she draws the line, and what she chooses to do with her body are decisions that belong exclusively to her. This goes far beyond the AI videos I have dealt with over the last few days, or anything I have personally experienced throughout my career. It is about the larger reality of being a woman, the gaze, the judgement, the constant negotiation for safety, and the feeling that our boundaries somehow remain open to interpretation.”

The actor said the threat has now extended to the digital sphere, even as the “very real, physical fear that continues to disrupt the lives of women every day” has not been adequately addressed. She also thanked Jr NTR, Khushbu Sundar, Vijay Deverakonda and Chiranjeevi for speaking out against the video and condemning the misuse of technology.