Ayesha Khan, whose song Shararat from Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar was widely acclaimed, recently spoke about the flip side of visibility and fame, touching on online judgement, AI-generated content and lack of consent in paparazzi culture.
“You become an open book.”
Talking about the downside of being in the public eye, Ayesha told Pinkvilla: “Of course the downside is that you are like an open book. Everyone has an opinion about you and they start writing in it.” She admitted that there are moments when she feels overwhelmed by the constant surveillance. “Sometimes I wish I had the option to turn this off,” she added, urging people to be mindful of the emotional impact their words have on others.While she acknowledged that resilience develops over time, she pointed out that not everyone is equipped to handle such pressure.
“What AI has started is very scary.”
Ayesha expressed deep concern about the misuse of artificial intelligence, calling it disturbing and worrying. “It’s very scary what AI has started to do. They’ve created a whole app that sexualizes women on the internet… humans can’t process the information that this is happening,” she said, adding that such content has become dangerously normalized.Recalling a personal incident, she revealed how her mother once came across an AI-generated video of herself. “There was a photo of me and Mr. Vijay… it was converted into an AI video of us hugging each other. I had to tell her that nothing like this has ever happened before,” Ayesha shared, pointing out how convincing such content is for people who are not familiar with AI technology.She added that she had seen several images of herself transformed in that way online. “They just made it from a photo and it actually looks very real… It’s sad that most people don’t know it’s AI,” she said.
“People don’t understand consent.”
Addressing the issue of paparazzi videos and viral clips, Ayesha emphasized the importance of consent. “People don’t understand consent. You can’t do these things without permission,” she said, often in response to comments criticizing celebrities’ clothing choices.Making a clear comparison, she said: “I’ll take a bath too, but you can’t bathe me.” It’s my choice… who gave you the choice? I reiterate that consent cannot be assumed.
Shouting out the “oops moment” culture
Ayesha has never been afraid to call out the culture of capturing and spreading uncomfortable moments. “They know it’s wrong…you’re even capturing someone’s oops moment and posting it publicly,” she said, questioning the ethics behind such content.At the same time, he acknowledged that not all paparazzi behave the same way. “There are good people. There are good dads,” she said, adding that many photographers respect boundaries when communicating discomfort. “Even if I tell them not to post, they won’t post,” she pointed out.In a balanced conclusion, Ayesha said she decided to focus on the positives. “Like everything else, there’s always good and bad…we take the good into account,” she said.
