Exclusive! Sreelekha Mitra on Binodini: I want to challenge our fixation over size-0 body

Rukmini Maitra dressed as Binodini Dasi in Ram Kamal Mukherjee’s film went viral on social media as soon as it was dropped. The look was released a few days back. However, Sreelekha Mitra stirred a controversy over the look. She sarcastically asked on Facebook if Binodini Dasi was size zero. “It is just a casual question, raised to increase my GK. I do not lack enemies, hence please do not take it personally,” she wrote.  

That comment raised many debates. The outspoken actress again commented on the subject. While talking to OTTplay, Sreelekha said, “I am not jealous of Rukmini Maitra. She is a pretty young girl and I wish her luck. I read the text of Noti Binodini. My question is more about body positivity and nothing else. What is the point of giving prosthetic makeup to someone and forcefully making her Binodini, when there are more suitable actresses present?” she asked, adding, “Rukmini is selected to please her boyfriend Dev. Dev is giving money, what can she do here?” 

The actress further said that she did not want the role. “There is Ananya Chatterjee, who could be selected. She is my true competitor. I would not criticize if she were chosen. That step would truly be a stand for Bengali cinema.” Sreelekha said that she did not like it and hence made such a comment. “I criticized the size-zero fixation issue and I had no intention to troll. However, Ramkamal Mukherjee and Aritra Das did not understand it,” she said and admitted that Facebook is gradually becoming a toxic place, and hence she took a hiatus. 

Sreelekha also said that she wished Rukmini luck at the end of her post, but no one noticed that, they only noticed the criticism. 

Previously, the film Ekti Notir Upakhyan's producer Aritra Das retorted to Sreelekha's criticism. He wrote on Facebook, “To someone so concerned about the ‘slim Binodini’. Two actresses previously played Binodini – Debasree Roy in Dinen Gupta’s film and Hema Malini in Gulzar’s serial Terah Panhe. Were they fat?” He also added, “Did Ajay Devgn look like Bhagat Singh? Did Kangana look like the Queen of Jhansi Laxmibai? Did Sushanta Singh look like Dhoni, Saswata Chattopadhyay look like Ritwik Ghatak, or Arundhati Debi look like Sister Nibedita?” Aritra also commented that Sreelekha should take a class on general knowledge. Sreelekha replied that she did not post that to insult anyone. She also said that insults and criticism are not the same.

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