When violation cannot be justified as artistic manipulation

A few weeks back, an old video interview of Tamil film actress Rekha sent everyone into a tizzy. She had said in it that her consent was not taken by ace filmmaker K Balachander for an intimate scene with actor Kamal Haasan for the 1986-flick Punnagai Mannan.

The controversial scene had two lovers played by the actors, on the verge of committing suicide as the woman’s family didn’t approve of their relationship. The emotionally-charged scene has the man catching the woman and kissing her on her lips before they hold their hands and jump off a cliff.

However, Rekha, in the interview, said that director Balachander had told Kamal that he knew what to do for the shot, indicating that while Kamal was told about the kiss, and her consent wasn’t sought. She also revealed that had she been asked, she would have refused, and the fact was that the movie became a hit and she was a much sought-after actress, following its success.

The actress said she was only 16 then and had just completed her class 10 exams. She said that the director had even assured her that the scene would not be cleared by the censor board, but it was cleared without much ado. Finally, Rekha said that while she was done discussing it, the fact remained that she was tricked into it.