Mansoor Ali Khan makes ‘rape quip’ on Trisha, draws sharp criticism

Tamil Actor Mansoor Ali Khan, who mostly dons villain roles, attracted wide condemnation later Saturday as a video clip of his speech — where he spoke about Leo co-star Trisha Krishnan in a demeaning way — went viral. Reacting on Twitter (now X), Trisha slammed Mansoor for speaking about her in a “vile and disgusting manner” and swore that she would never again do any project with him.

Mansoor’s comment was sharply criticised by other film personalities including Leo director Lokesh Kanagaraj, singer Chinmayi Sripaada, director Karthik Subbaraj and actor-politician Khushbu Sundar.

What Mansoor said

In his recent speech, Mansoor said when he was offered a role in Leo, he thought he would get a “bedroom scene” with Trisha, but she was not even shown to him on sets. Trisha and Mansoor did not have any scenes together in the Lokesh Kanagaraj blockbuster. He went on to rue that these days villains are not given “rape scenes”. He went on to recall how he’d done such scenes with yesteryear heroines (currently politicians) Khushbu and Roja in the past, but these days such scenes are not produced.

“A recent video has come to my notice where Mr. Mansoor Ali Khan has spoken about me in a vile and disgusting manner. I strongly condemn this and find it sexist, disrespectful, misogynistic, repulsive and in bad taste. He can keep wishing but I am grateful never to have shared screen space with someone as pathetic as him and I will make sure it never happens for the rest of my film career as well. People like him bring a bad name to mankind,” tweeted Trisha.

Leo directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, also starred Vijay in the lead role, with Sanjay Dutt and Arjun Sarja as co-stars apart from Trisha and Mansoor.

Lokesh reacted to Mansoor’s comment, tweeting: “Disheartened and enraged to hear the misogynistic comments made by Mr Mansoor Ali Khan, given that we all worked in the same team. Respect for women, fellow artists and professionals should be a non-negotiable in any industry and I absolutely condemn this behaviour.”

However, Twitterati were quick to point out that Lokesh had roped in Mansoor knowing he was already a rape accused. In fact, three other MeToo accused — Arjun Sarja, Anurag Kashyap and Maya S Krishnan — were also part of the Leo cast.

Chinmayi slams Mansoor

Chinmayi Sripaada, who has constantly voiced out against misogyny and abuse in the film industry, took on Mansoor.

“The thing about men like Mansoor Ali Khan - they have always been talking like this. Never been condemned, with other men in power, money and influence laughing along,” she said. She recalled that another villain-actor, Robo Shankar, had earlier said how wanted to be allowed to touch actor Hansika Motwani, but the latter had put her foot down. “If I remember until a journalist called him out, everyone else was smiling even if they felt comfortable enough to share displeasure,” Chinmayi wrote.

Chinmayi herself has accused lyricist Vairamuthu of sexual harassment and slammed the film industry and politicians of honouring and platforming him despite numberous charges against him. Her war of words with actor Radha Ravi led to her being banned from dubbing in Tamil films. Strangely, it was Lokesh who roped her in for Tamil dubbing after a long hiatus, and Chinmayi dubbed for Trisha in Leo.

Khushbu, who is also a member of the National Commission for Women (NCW), promised action against Mansoor. “As a member of NCW, I have already taken up the issue of Mansoor Ali khan with my senior and will be taking an action on it. Nobody can get away with such a filthy mind. I stand with @trishtrashers,” she tweeted.