Janhvi Kapoor Surprised By Reaction To ‘Ambedkar-Gandhi Debate’ Comment, Says Her PR Wanted To Remove It

Janhvi Kapoor recently stirred up significant discussion when she suggested that it would be “interesting to watch a debate between Gandhi and Ambedkar.”

Janhvi Kapoor has shared that her PR team wanted to edit ‘Ambedkar-Gandhi Debate’ portion out of her interview, fearing potential backlash.

Source : Instagram/@janhvikapoor

Janhvi Kapoor recently stirred up significant discussion when she suggested that it would be “interesting to watch a debate between Gandhi and Ambedkar.” The internet was surprised by Janhvi’s statement applauding her for her views and clarity of thoughts, while many called it a PR-taught answer to polish her image. The actor has now shared that her PR team wanted to edit this portion out of her interview, fearing potential backlash. Janhvi admitted that she, along with her team, was unsure how the remark would be received and tried to have it removed due to her concerns. 

Janhvi surprised by public reaction to her statement

In an interview with Mashable India, Janhvi expressed her surprise at the public reaction, asking, “Is it so hard to believe that a young female actress can have an opinion?” She highlighted the irony that many assumed she was coached by her PR team to make the statement, whereas in reality, her team was anxious and wanted it excluded. “The irony, I remember that one of the reactions to this was she has been trained by her PR,” she noted. 

Her PR wanted to remove Ambedkar-Gandhi Debate answer from interview

“I said it in conversation. After that interview got over, I looked at my PR to see if I said something wrong, and they mentioned that this one thing might get picked up, but let’s see. Then the next day, I started panicking. I didn’t want any unwanted attention with the film about to release. My PR team also got hyper and asked the show producers if we could remove that bit. We don’t want unwanted attention. This is a bit risky, and they said, ‘No, we don’t want to cut it.’ That’s what was so ironic – that my team wanted to cut it, and people thought I had been trained,” she explained. 

Janhvi also shared that her interest in caste discrimination was sparked by her interactions with filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan. “He was telling me about his experiences. That sparked a curiosity in my head that I am a part of this society, I am a Hindu, and I know so little about my culture and society. I live on Ambedkar Road and I don’t know anything about his history. I should be ashamed of myself, so I got quite triggered,” she said. This led her to read Ambedkar’s book Annihilation of Caste, which she described as transformative. 

“Reading this book has changed me quite a bit,” Janhvi continued, “and I have started to re-evaluate my surroundings. This is such a big part of our society, and we don’t even realise that classism and casteism are so ingrained within us, and we don’t talk about it. We should be ashamed of ourselves.” 

What Janhvi had said

In a previous interview with The Lallantop, Janhvi had expressed her thoughts on a hypothetical debate between Ambedkar and Gandhi. “I don’t know how my views will get translated to the audience, but I think it will be very interesting to watch a debate between Ambedkar and Gandhi. Just a debate between what they stand for and how their views kept changing over a topic and how they kept influencing people. They have both helped our society to a great extent. So I think it will be very interesting discourse,” she stated. Janhvi also observed, “Ambedkar’s view [in terms of caste] was very stern since the beginning while Gandhi’s kept evolving over time. The caste problem in our society… I think to learn about it from a third person’s point of view vs living that life, there’s a big difference between the two.” 

Janhvi will next be seen in 'Ulajh', which is slated to release on August 2.