A few days ago, Padmaavat (2018) actor Jim Sarbh and Kangana Ranaut were slammed on social media for their controversial ‘rape’ joke at Cannes, which could also have been deemed insensitive to the Punjabi community.
Now, Sarbh has opened up on the controversy and condemned sexual violence while claiming that his joke was taken out of context.
"The joke I made is about a priest blowing a casual question completely out of proportion, condemning alcohol, prostitutes and rape simultaneously. The Punjabi (or whichever ethnicity, depending on the audience) responds to the situation by consenting to it and expressing his sexual proclivities. I personally do not find it to be about a desire to rape, or to inflict sexual violence upon another, but a subversive and comedic response to an extremely volatile sentence," Sarbh told the website BollywoodLife.com.
The actor explained that he never intended to hurt anyone and condemns acts of sexual violence. “I certainly do not consider sexual or physical violence funny,” said Sarbh, who played Alauddin Khilji's general and gay lover Malik Kafur in Padmaavat.
The actor was present at an event on the sidelines of the Cannes festival. Sarbh and Ranaut appeared to be putting up an act. In the video, one can hear Sarbh say, “I would rather be raped by 12 prostitutes than touch alcohol. And the Punjabi is like, ‘Me too! I didn’t know there was an option'!” Ranaut and the audience broke out in laughter, which got her some flak too.