Sanya Malhotra joins PETA’s campaign on World Elephant Day

Star of the recent Netflix release Pagglait, Sanya Malhotra is turning heads once again for a new World Elephant Day (12 August) campaign with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India. Shot by ace photographer Taras Taraporvala, the ad features Malhotra with a ghastly “cut” on her face seemingly made by an ankus (a vile device used to control elephants) and asks fans to “try to relate” to animals’ fate by never riding an elephant.

Says Sanya Malhotra, “When I act on screen or dance, I do so because it brings me true joy. But the elephants used for ‘joyrides’ and performances don’t have a choice at all: they are beaten into submission and usually never get to see their families again.”

Often when they’re just two years old, baby elephants are taken away from their mothers and either tied up between trees with heavy chains and ropes — causing painful burns — or confined to a cramped wooden enclosure called a kraal to force them to obey the trainers.