Poonam Pandey is an Indian model and actress known for her provocative statements on social media, notably Twitter and Instagram. She originally became famous after promising to strip naked if the Indian cricket team won the 2011 Cricket World Cup. Although she did not keep her pledge owing to legal issues, her comment received a lot of media attention.
Poonam Pandey has since acted in various Bollywood films, mostly in item numbers or supporting parts. While she is recognized for her daring and risqué appearance, she has also been embroiled in a number of scandals, including legal troubles stemming from her controversial social media postings and videos. Overall, she is a divisive character in the Indian entertainment business.
In 2013, she starred as the female protagonist in the film Nasha, about a teacher who has a sexual connection with one of her students. While Rediff.com claimed she shone as a seductress in the part, the Mumbai Mirror noted that she did “not play seductresses but a proper, responsible drama teacher” and that “Poonam makes an effort but isn’t quite there”.
The posters for the film, which portrayed her “clad in nothing, but two placards tactfully placed to cover her body,” enraged viewers, and on July 20, 2013, a group of demonstrators tore them up and burnt them on fire in Mumbai. The general secretary of Shiv Sena Chitrapat opposed the ads, stating, “We find the poster highly vulgar and derogatory and will not allow such hoardings.”
