After a teaser for Toxic was released on Thursday, many netizens are making fun of Chinmayi Sripaada and Anasuya Bharadwaj, who they see as insincere feminists. A section of the audience believes that these celebrities would have lashed out at Toxic had it been directed by a male person.
In a polarized cultural environment, such populist binaries are only to be expected. Anasuya's criticism of abusive content in popular culture is limited to real life. She has previously criticized Vijay Deverakonda over the actor using forbidden language during an event, not in cinema. Chinmayi has questioned the vulgarnization of women in films, but depicting sexual content itself has never been censured by her. So, why should they have a problem with Yash's film?
Toxic features five female actors. If there is excessive glamourization or sexualization of most of them, the toxic masculinity of the film will have to be debated. Expecting content to be family-friendly just because a woman has directed it is, however, childish.
