Venkat Prabhu speaks up on MeToo, says errant men should be punished

Film director Venkat Prabhu is the first person from the Tamil film industry to comment on the Hema Committee report in Kerala and the issue of sexual harassment in the industry.

In an interview with NDTV, Prabhu said it was time for the Tamil film industry to address head-on the allegations of sexual harassment and to begin clearing things up.

“I have two daughters. We need a safer place for women,” said the director, stressing the need for a safer working environment for women in the film industry.

Prabhu said the perpetrators needed to be punished so that they “would be scared to do what they do”.

He said women faced the problem of sexual harassment in all sectors, but the film industry found itself under the spotlight more often.

On being questioned whether the industry should have taken action on the sexual harassment allegations by the singer Chinmayi against lyricist Vairamuthu and actor Radha Ravi, Prabhu said the Tamil film industry was “taking care of it”.

FEFSI has not done anything: Chinmayi

However, Chinmayi disagreed with his statement and said that she liked Venkat Prabhu as a person, but he was wrong when he said the industry was doing something. She said FEFSI (Film Employees Federation of South India) hadn’t done anything – and it had not even issued a directive to make things safe for women at any work place.

Vairamuthu had in the past denied Chinmayi’s allegations against him, and said he would face them legally if she filed a formal complaint.

Venkat Prabhu is known for directing films like Mangatha with Ajith and the upcoming GOAT with Vijay.

Incidentally, superstar Rajinikanth last week said he was not aware of the Hema Committee report when he was asked if there should be a similar committee to probe allegations of sexual harassment in the Tamil film industry.