Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India]: Actor Mansoor Ali Khan, who is facing flak for misogynistic remarks against his ‘Leo’ co-star Trisha Krishnan on Tuesday, said he won’t apologise as he didn’t “say anything wrong”.
Addressing a press conference here, Khan said, “I didn’t mean personally. If there is a rape or murder scene is that real in cinema? Does it mean raping someone for real? What does murder in cinema mean? Does it mean they are murdering someone for real? Why do I need to apologize? I didn’t say anything wrong. I respect all actresses.”
A video of Mansoor Ali Khan from one of his interviews surfaced on social media, where he had hoped to have said rape scene in ‘Leo’ starring Trisha just like he had in older films with stars like Khushboo and Roja.
“When I heard that I was acting with Trisha, I thought there would be a bedroom scene in the film. I thought that I could carry her to the bedroom just like I did with other actresses in my earlier movies. I have done so many rape scenes in a number of movies and it’s not new to me. But these guys didn’t even show Trisha to me on the sets during the Kashmir schedule” Khan had said
Trisha and Mansoor Ali Khan don’t share scree space in Lokesh Kanagaraj’s film ‘Leo’ but have portrayed prominent roles in the film.
Responding to Khan’s remarks, Trisha took to microblogging site X and wrote, “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.”
Later, the issue was taken up by Bharatiya Janata Party leader and member of the National Commission for Women (NCW), Khushbu Sundar.
Sundar on Sunday said she has taken up the issue of the alleged derogatory remarks made by Khan against Trisha Krishnan.
“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 and my other colleagues where this man speaks in such a sexist disgusting mindset about them, including me. When we are fighting tooth & nail to protect women & bring dignity to them, such men are like a bot in our society,” Sundar posted on X.
Singer Chinmayi Sripaada also condemned Mansoor’s remarks. “It is good and interesting to note that much has changed now with how they are all dealing with Mansoor Ali Khan. That people in power see it necessary to register their condemnation instead of saying let’s ignore the sewage. Between the time Nayanthara was slandered by Radha Ravi during the Audio Launch of her own film. Nobody condemned for at least 2 days, nobody took action, no ‘Give explanation’, no demand for apology, no NCW Suo-Motu cognisance. He was suspended from the party he was with, the DMK. He joined the BJP and slandered Nayanthara again. The NCW ignored it again. Many netizens spoken up though – nothing came of it.”
I do hope the trend will continue because there are a lot of men in the industry that speak like this of women they work with.”
Meanwhile, Mansoor reacting to NCW’s condemnation said, “Did NCW react when Anitha committed suicide against NEET?. Did NCW visit Manipur?. I don’t want to speak more than on this”.
The South Indian Artistes Association (SIAA), also known as Nadigar Sangam on Sunday strongly condemned Mansoor for his crass and sexist comments against Trisha and demanded a public apology from him.
To this Mansoor said, “Whatever they did is wrong. They should withdraw their statement within four hours. As a routine, they should give an explanation letter to me asking for an explanation. They should give an explanation or else I could file a defamation suit also. I am not criticising the Association but this reply is for them. They should follow the formality”.
