A screengrab of Sunny Leone's poster on the fields.
Credit: X/@path2shah
Farmers in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, have enacted a new way to protect their successful harvests from 'evil eye,' by putting up posters of Bollywood actress Sunny Leone on the fields.
In a video posted on X, A farmer in Yadgir district's Mudanur village has attracted attention by placing a portrait of the actress in his cotton field.
However, the posters have drawn criticism, with locals claiming it to be 'disrespectful and inappropriate'.
This new practice to avoid 'evil eye' has garnered more attention and backlash.
In a response to Times of India, Chenchu Reddy (45) said, "This year, I got a good harvest on 10 acres. To keep it safe from the evil eye of villagers and passersby, I decided to install a big poster of Sunny Leone."
He put up the poster in his cabbage and cauliflower field in Andhra Pradesh's Banda Kindi Palle village.
A farmer in Yadgir district said, "The crop has yielded very well this time. I don't want it to fall under the evil eye." He further explained to TOI, "When people pass by, their attention goes to the poster instead of the field."
Through generations, people have used symbols of black clothes, scarecrows, images of deities, and even faces of scary demons to protect their properties and fields.