Milind Soman reacts to backlash on his 'nude photo', says 'if you don't want to follow me, don't'

Model-turned-actor Milind Soman, who celebrated his 55th birthday on November 4, saw himself in the middle of a controversy and a subsequent FIR after he posted a nude photo of himself running on a Goa beach, celebrating his special day. 

While netizens were swooning over his 'birthday suit', some took offence and filed an FIR under Section 294 (obscenity) of the Indian Penal Code, along with other relevant sections of the Information Technology Act at the Colva police station in South Goa district.

And now, reacting to the same, in an interview with Hindustan Times, the 'Bajirao Mastani' actor said, "If you know someone who has done naked photography before, he is quite likely to do it again. Why not? Because he doesn't see anything wrong with it. I have done it commercially, for magazines, for newspapers, I have done it as a model, as an actor, I have done sex scenes. Why wouldn't I put it on my Instagram page? If you don't want to follow me, don't follow me." 

He added, "Some people said, 'My mother is on Instagram.' I said, 'Yes, so she shouldn't open certain pages.' 

In addition, Milind said, "Last week, Jennifer Lopez put up a naked picture on her 50th birthday. On Instagram. What do people have to say about that? The fact is, the line is in your head - what is art, what is vulgarity, what is an obscenity and what is not. It is so subjective and it changes every day."

Speaking about censorship on the Internet, Milind said it was meaningless. He told the publication, "Today, the internet is there. Like, when someone tells me, ‘Oh, you uploaded a naked picture!’ Yes, uploaded where? On Instagram, which has not removed it, so they don’t care. If you search #naked on Instagram, there will be more than 10 million photographs. So, you have to decide. You hashtagged naked and pressed the search button, that is your choice. If you don’t do it, you won’t see it," he said.

On the work front, Milind will be next seen in AltBalaji's new production 'Paurashpur'.

Milind represents the third gender in the period drama and will essay the role of Borris. In fact, the first look of the 55-year-old actor received huge acclaim and praise. It showed him sporting a gold nose pin, jewellery as well as a bindi while his face is smeared with vermilion.