Glamorous actress turned off by turn-on ads featuring her

What provoked the sultry actress were billboards and hoardings promoting the aphrodisiac which surfaced recently all over the state showing her seductive pose in the upcoming film “Kayam”. Shweta appeared in the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate court on Wednesday seeking explanation from the manufacturer of the product as well as the producer of the film for using her images without her consent to promote the product.

The actress told Deccan Herald from Mumbai that she had demanded the immediate removal of the billboards at the earliest or face further action. “More than an actor, I am also a woman. It is highly deplorable that the images of an artistically superior film like ‘Kayam’ were linked to such a product,” she said referring to the drug’s claims to offer a complete solution for sexual problems.

The herbal aphrodisiac manufactured by Kunnath Pharmaceuticals had already been embroiled in many controversies with the drugs controller unsuccessfully trying to stop its sales even in recent times.  

“Why can’t they use the faces of other actors who had also figured in the film. Why me? I am not asking for any compensation but just that the hoardings be removed,” she said.

Shweta has also filed a complaint with the Kerala State Women’s Commission and also petitioned the Association of Malayalam Movies Artistes (AMMA) against the producer who incidentally is also a woman. Film director Anil K Kumar has, however, come out in support of the actress.

Shweta Menon was the second runner-up behind Sushmita Sen and Aiswarya Rai in the 1994 Miss India contest though it was her daring ads for Kamasutra condoms in 1998 which caught the nation’s attention.

She returned actively to Malayalam films a few years ago and even received the state award for best actress this year for her performance in “Paleri Manikyam Oru Paathira Kolapathakathinte Katha”. Off late, she has also been anchoring TV programmes and stage shows.