Shiva Rajkumar stands in support of Sapthami Gowda as she slams ‘zoom-ins’ of actresses: ‘Actors, not objects’

After Sapthami Gowda slammed how videos and pictures are taken of actresses at events, Shiva Rajkumar and his daughter stood in her support.

Kannada star Shiva Rajkumar and his daughter, producer-actor Niveditha Shivarajkumar, have come out in support of Sapthami Gowda after she recently slammed how pictures and videos of actors are clicked at inappropriate angles. Shiva even termed it a ‘misfortune’ that in today’s day and age, it has to be pointed out that women deserve respect.

Shiva Rajkumar stood in support of Sapthami Gowda and penned a note on respecting women.

Shiva Rajkumar, Niveditha in support of Sapthami Gowda

Shiva released a note in Kannada on his social media, captioning it, “#ActorsNotObjects.” He wrote, “Even in this day and age, it is our misfortune to be told to respect women. Please work with a conscience. Don’t disrespect women and actresses.”

His daughter Niveditha echoed a similar sentiment as she wrote, “No matter her profession, no woman deserves to be reduced to her body. The way women are filmed, photographed, spoken about, and circulated reflects who we are as a society, and it is the responsibility of every individual to ensure that the standard is always high. Let's respect women as people first. Always.”

Niveditha Shivarajkumar also stood in support of Sapthami Gowda.

What did Sapthami Gowda say?

On Wednesday, Sapthami wrote a strongly worded Instagram post calling out those who click pictures and videos that violate actresses’ dignity. She wrote, “As women in the film industry, we stand together in addressing a recurring issue. Repeatedly, videos and photographs of female actors at public events are shot and circulated from inappropriate angles, with unnecessary zooms that focus on our bodies rather than our work. This behaviour, carried out by a few individuals, is disrespectful and unacceptable. We are here for our craft. We are here for our cinema.”

Slamming the ‘deliberate zoom-ins’, she added, “We unequivocally condemn deliberate zoom-ins and inappropriate angles. They are clear violations of dignity and will not be normalised or tolerated. We expect those covering events to maintain professionalism, basic respect, and decency.” Rukmini Vasanth, Ashika Ranganath, Divya Spandana and other actors also stood in support of Sapthami after she shared her note.

“Let's normalise respect - not violation. Deliberate zoom-ins and inappropriate angles are disrespectful and unacceptable,” wrote Ashika while posting the note that Rukmini and Divya also re-shared. This is not the first time actresses have raised concerns about how they are being photographed at public events. Janhvi Kapoor, Mrunal Thakur, Nora Fatehi, Zareen Khan, Ayesha Khan and others have expressed frustration with the ‘zoom-ins’ to body parts.

Sapthami starred in Thammudu and Shodha in 2025 and will soon star in The Rise of Ashoka. Shiva, who battled a health issue in 2025, starred in 45 and will soon be seen in Peddi and Jailer 2.