I'm not homophobic: Gadar 2 actress Ameesha Patel clarifies after controversial comments 

Ameesha Patel, who was last seen in the 2018 Hindi-language film Bhaiaji Superhit, recently came under fire for her comments on the depiction of homosexuality on OTT platforms. The comments went viral, leading to social media users labelling her 'homophobic'. Now, in an interview with Republic Digital, the actress clarified her comments and explicitly stated she is not homophobic. 

2 things you need to know

• Ameesha Patel has been making headlines for her remarks over the portrayal of homosexuality on OTT
• The actress will be seen making her comeback on the big screen after four years.

Ameesha clarifies her 'homophobic' remarks

Ameesha's comments "OTT is full of "homosexuality, gay-lesbianism", and "scenes where you have to cover your kids’ eyes", given during an interview to an online portal on the sidelines of Gadar 2 promotions, sparked controversy online. Her stance that content on digital platforms cannot be enjoyed with one's family and that content around homosexuality wasn't something one would want their kids to watch, further added fuel to the fire. She was called out online for her remarks and subsequently labelled 'homophobic' by a section of the netizens.  

(Ameesha Patel will be seen in Gadar 2 opposite Sunny Deol | Image: Ameesha Patel/Instagram)

Clarifying that she's not homophobic, Ameesha addressed the controversy over her remarks. Ameesha told Republic Digital she's not against anyone's sexuality, however, maintained her stance on the explicit content on OTT. She said it was a fact parents were worried about their kids getting influenced due to easy accessibility to such content.

"I'm not homophobic. I'm not against any person's sexuality. I'm, in fact, in support of whatever sexuality you chose. What I meant by that comment was that today's parents feel very scared and from the feedback that I've received, they are scared of OTT content because it's full of rape, nudity and abusive language," she said.

OTT content is too dark: Ameesha Patel

Ameesha stressed kids today are vulnerable while adding the aim should be to make "clean films" targeted towards family audiences. She also talked about the lack of censorship on OTT, leading to "creative freedom" being exercised to use abusive language and show nudity. She argued that this is not ideal for kids who can easily "adopt these things".  

"It's (OTT) too dark with a lot of crime, drug abuse and alcohol abuse being shown. These are the things that society doesn't want to see a lot because kids today are on their mobiles or watching television, content on OTT platforms rather than playing outside or socialising. Kids and youth could easily adopt these things because it's shown on TV/OTT. So, they (parents) would like good, clean family films," Ameesha explained.

On the work front, Ameesha Patel is reuniting with Sunny Deol for the upcoming film Gadar 2, set to release on August 11. The film will clash with Akshay Kumar and Pankaj Tripathi starrer OMG 2 at the box office.