Sunny Leone on being accused of causing 'obscenity in society' because of adult film past

Leone was accused of 'destroying Indian culture' for engaging in sexual and abnormal acts'

Actress Sunny Leone stars in the adverts (Getty)

Sunny Leone won support across India this week for rebuffing an interviewer who appeared intent on dragging up her work in porn for the duration of their exchange.

The Canadian-born actress, who is of Indian heritage, launched a successful Bollywood career in India five years ago.

But Leone, 31, faced suggestions she is “lowering the level of the fine art of cinema” in a recent interview with Bhupendra Chauby and was questioned repeatedly about her past as a "porn queen". Her dignified and measured responses earned praise from viewers while Chauby found himself accused of “misogyny” by furious viewers.

Chaubey even asked if there was any correlation between her arrival into mainstream Indian cinema and the increase in people watching porn, telling Leone: “In the last four years, according to statistics which have been put up by Porn Hub, since you have come into the national mainstream cinema, the number of people watching porn in India have also, in a proportionate manner, increased substantially to a degree that we are the largest consumer of porn.”

Leone has had to fight for acceptance after retiring from porn in 2013, admitting to the Huffington Post that no-one would speak to her when she first moved to India. Leone, real name Karenjit Kaur Vohra, even faced accusations of obscenity in 2015 after a woman filed a complaint against her in Mumbai for “promoting obscenity and destroying Indian culture and society”.

The complainant took issue with Leone for videos where she “indulged in sexual and abnormal acts”.

“[Leone] has recorded these acts and put them up on the website for viewing as well as for sale. Such content gives rise to obscenity in the society and creates sexual desire in the mind of the viewer,” the complaint reportedly stated.

“It's definitely something that did affect me,” she told AFP of the experience. “It was not fun at all. Hopefully, situations like that don't come up again because I'm not a part of that world anymore and I don't think it's fair to bring up things that have no merit at this point in time in my life.”

Leone has now amassed a huge following in India. She thanked fans for their enduring support in a Facebook message on Wednesday.