Model-turned-actor Shweta Menon, who rose to fame with her racy advertisements for a condom brand in the late 90s, has triggered a debate in Kerala by shooting her delivery for a film.
Malayalam filmmaker Blessy captured the birth of Menon's daughter Sabaina at Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai on September 27 for his upcoming film Kalimannu (Clay).
The scene of real delivery will be a first for Indian cinema.
Menon, 38, found herself surrounded by controversy after Kerala assembly speaker G Karthikeyan termed her act unethical.
Talking about growing commercialisation at a function in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday, the Congress leader said, "You can't view everything with a commercial eye. If an ordinary woman had done this, she would have been in trouble. You can't push the boundaries like this for the success of a movie."
Menon, who had brought Sabaina along to receive the best actress award at the Kerala State Film Awards last month, sought to play down the controversy.
"I appreciate healthy criticism. But one's ethics may not be another's," she said over phone from Mumbai.
{{/usCountry}}"I appreciate healthy criticism. But one's ethics may not be another's," she said over phone from Mumbai.
{{/usCountry}}"The movie is not about my delivery alone. I am bold enough not to be run down by such criticism," the actor, who was second runner-up in the 1994 Miss India pageant, after Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai, added.
"With my baby, I am passing through best phase of my life. I don't want to get into unnecessary controversies."