Actor Jyotika, who was last seen in the Netflix series Dabba Cartel, has been in the receiving end of criticism for her old video that seemingly pointed to the South Indian film industry for not giving importance to female stars on posters.
The year-old video was recorded during a promotional event for Vikas Bahl's Shaitaan, where she starred alongside Ajay Devgn and Madhavan. "The biggest surprise for me was seeing Ajay Devgn conduct himself all through the shoot. I have worked with several male actors in South India. My recent film was with Mammootty. If I had learnt one thing after so many years, it was how you give away. He has been selfless with this film," she said.
Further, she added, "Even in the posters you can see this. When I do a film down South with my heroes, who would put my face so prominently? It's been a pleasure to act with Mammootty sir and Ajay. These are real stalwarts of cinema I feel. They are giving back to cinema."
Her comment did not go down well with a lot of social media users who criticised her for giving a bad name to the Tamil as well the entire South Indian industry through which she established her foothold. Many on the internet shared posters from hit films Kaakha Kaakha, Dum Dum Dum, Priyamana Thozhi, Kushi and Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu, among others where she was featured prominently along with her male stars.
Others state how it was an unfair and unnecessary comparison on both the industries and called her out for undermining the South Indian industry. The actor is yet to respond to the criticism.
Over the last few years, Jyotika had concentrated on working in other language projects, apart from Tamil, especially after she and Suriya moved to Mumbai. After Udanpirappe (2021), she had not acted in a Tamil movie. Her 2023 Malayalam film Kaathal – The Core won her accolades and positive responses. Later, she had starred in Shaitaan, Rajkummar Rao's Srikanth and the Netflix series Dabba Cartel.
