Petition filed seeking legal action against Bollywood star Ranveer Singh over nude photoshoot

A public interest litigation (PIL) petition has been filed against Ranveer Singh at a state high in India over the Bollywood actor’s recent nude photoshoot for the Paper magazine.

Last month, Singh became one of the first Bollywood stars to pose nude for a magazine cover, drawing praise from other actors such as Priyanka Chopra, and Indian filmmakers Zoya Akhtar and Anurag Kashyap.

However, after the photos were released on social media, Singh was accused of “hurting women’s sentiments and modesty” in complaints filed across the country.

Now, a petitioner is seeking legal action at the Calcutta High Court against the Gully Boy actor for “harming the peace and breaching the minds of young children” for the sake of money, according to a Bar & Bench report published on Wednesday (10 August).

The petitioner has asked the court to stop the circulation of the photographs in question, arguing obscenity under the Indian law.

After the images were released on 22 July, Mumbai-based matrimonial lawyer Vedika Chaubey filed a separate complaint against Singh, requesting the police to investigate whether the 37-year-old actor intended to offend women.

“Of course this is vulgar. We can see his bum,” Chaubey said in a live interview with NDTV. “This is a national issue.”

Singh, who is one of Bollywood’s most colourful actors, was asked whether he felt nervous about getting naked for the cover.

He said: “It’s so easy for me to be physically naked, but in some of my performances I’ve been damn f***ing naked.

“You can see my f***ing soul. How naked is that? That’s being actually naked. I can be naked in front of a thousand people, I don’t give a sh*t. It’s just that they get uncomfortable.”