Kriti Sanon probably didn’t expect that tying a rakhi in a jewellery ad would cause one of the biggest discussions of the week in Bollywood.
Kriti Sanon's Raksha Bandhan campaign for GIVA has been criticized by some people on social media.
There are two main issues.First, she is wearing a bralette-style blouse in off-white with a cape and a draped skirt, which some think is not appropriate for a traditional festival.The second issue is a scene where she ties a rakhi to her pet dog.Some people also questioned why there were no traditional items like the puja thali or tilak.So far, Kriti hasn’t commented on the criticism.
But beneath all the noise about one ad is a more important question.
Who gets to decide what an Indian woman should look like when celebrating an Indian festival?
There's definitely a valid point on the other side.
This isn’t footage from Kriti’s private Raksha Bandhan celebration.It’s an ad created by a brand for a religious and cultural festival.So audiences have the right to judge if the ad feels authentic.If someone says, "This doesn’t look like the Raksha Bandhan I know," they’re commenting on the ad.Brands often succeed or fail based on how well they connect with how people see culture.That kind of criticism shouldn’t be automatically seen as backward.
But somewhere between questioning the creative choices in the ad and discussing how much of Kriti’s body should be visible while sitting next to a man acting as her brother, the conversation changes.
It stops being about Raksha Bandhan.
It becomes about controlling how women celebrate it.And that shows a strange contradiction in Bollywood.
Audiences often watch actresses in bikinis, swimsuits, deep necklines, item songs, and intimate scenes.
Those images are seen, shared, celebrated, and sometimes become viral.Yet, when a modern outfit is used in the context of a festival, the same woman's body suddenly becomes a cultural topic.
Maybe because Indian pop culture still puts women into two different boxes.
There is the modern woman from films, fashion shoots, holidays, and Instagram.Then there is the "other" woman who appears during Diwali, Raksha Bandhan, Karwa Chauth, or weddings.
Kriti Sanon's Raksha Bandhan ad row: Is the outrage really about tradition or about what women wear?
This second woman is expected to represent tradition visually.
We are used to modernity, as long as she changes clothes before entering the festival.
There’s also another interesting angle to the controversy.
The decision to include the dog wasn’t a random joke.GIVA had already described its Raksha Bandhan campaign as "Furever Sibling," based on the idea that pets are now family for many people.The company also tied the campaign to a pet collection.In other words, what some viewers saw as being disrespectful to the festival was actually the campaign’s attempt to modernize the ritual.One can still choose to dislike that idea.
Not every tradition needs to be changed by an ad.
Not every effort to be progressive or "Gen Z friendly" works automatically.Sometimes brands try too hard to reinterpret festivals and end up losing the original simple feeling.That criticism is fair.
What’s harder to justify is the belief that there’s only one correct way to celebrate a festival in a country with hundreds of millions of families, each with different customs, clothing, relationships, and rituals.
Traditions themselves have never been fixed or unchanged.
Sisters tie rakhis to sisters.
Women tie them to friends.Children tie them to people they see as protectors.Families abroad celebrate differently than families in small towns.Some do big rituals; others just tie the thread, exchange sweets, and hug.
And yes, more and more, people are bringing their pets into almost every family event you can think of.
So the real issue with the Kriti Sanon ad might not be whether it's traditional enough.
It might be that advertising today is stuck between two versions of India that live in the same home.One side wants brands to show how lifestyles are changing.The other wants festivals, especially how they're shown in popular culture, to be protected from too much change.Neither of these feelings is made up.
The problem starts when cultural differences become judgments about the woman in the picture.
Kriti's shirt, GIVA's creative choices, and tying a rakhi to a pet can all be discussed.But maybe a woman's modesty doesn't need to be questioned.
Because if Raksha Bandhan is really about love, family, and protection, it would be funny if the biggest debate around it was about protecting society from an actress's shirt.
