This is the sad state of affairs for women, men such as him, are previously known to be offenders, they have multiple allegations of harassment and are still celebrated by the audience for their below-average performances. Calling out such behaviour, netizens took to Twitter to call his actions ‘ disrespectful’ and ‘ unacceptable’. The arrogance of such alleged superstars makes them do as they please and the others, especially actresses become helpless under their power and following.
Appalling behaviour by Balakrishna and an understandable reaction by the junior artist who laughed it off, but the most horrifying part of this video is the crowd’s reaction to a blatant act of assault, cheering and hooting in approval.
— Siddharth (@DearthOfSid) May 29, 2024
It’s high time that actions such as these are condemned, openly. Just a few months ago, on the last season of Bigg Boss Tamil, contestant Vichitra who is a former actress made a shocking revelation on live TV. She talks about why she quit the movie industry, and blames the lead actor’s misbehavior towards her back in 2000, “Back in 2000, a late actor suggested a film to me. I don’t want to reveal the details. The shooting took place in Malampuzha, where I met my husband. That’s where I faced my worst-ever casting couch experience. Everyone knows that I disappeared from films after my wedding. This was the reason. I wanted to forget this incident, but this wound was so deep that it never healed. Opening up about the incident right now means I’ve faced my demons.”
“There was a party, where I met a very famous hero. He didn’t even ask my name and asked me to come to his room. I was shocked because I didn’t understand what kind of gesture that was. I went back to my room and slept, but I began facing issues during the shoot. I’ve never faced such issues in Tamil cinema,” she also added. Vichitra also said that they were shooting outdoors one day in a dense area where a commotion takes place. “I felt someone touching me inappropriately and at first I thought it was a mistake,” she said, adding, “When I caught the guy and took him to the stunt master, he slapped me in front of the entire unit. It left me with bruises. I couldn’t tell my parents, so I told my friend who encouraged me to complain to the union.”
Vichitra also added that the situation got so worse during the outdoor shoot that men from the unit would get drunk and bang on the doors at night. “My husband was the manager of the 3-star hotel we were staying at. He and his team did their best to keep me safe and would change my rooms every day. I still remember the banging noise and how scared I felt back then. My husband wasn’t even my friend then, he did it out of kindness,”
“I complained to the union and they asked me to come back. No one came for me. It was an incident that was much talked about in the newspapers. One of the members of the union asked me why I came to them instead of approaching the police. I met the lawyers and it was an ugly procedure. In two days, my wounds healed and no one came to the court for hearings. My now-husband offered to give evidence during the hearing. That’s when I felt that my career was finished. I was thinking about how I could manage my family. The head of the union advised me to forget everything and go back to work. My husband then asked me,’ Is this what you’re working for? If you don’t get respect or dignity, you don’t deserve to be here. It felt like a slap on my face,” she explained.
The live relay muted some of the names, even though Vichithra did not mention the film or the hero. Netizens speculate that the incident happened when she worked on a film titled ‘Bhalevadivi Basu’, which featured Nandamuri Balakrishna AKA Balayya and the stunt master is A. Vijay.
