Kamal Haasan is the first Kollywood superstar to throw his weight behind the #MeToo movement. He may be an actor-turned-politician who has to take a stand on issues, but he has never fought shy of doing this on public platforms since jumping into the political fray.
In a recent interaction with the press in the city, Kamal opened up on the subject and came out in support of the #MeToo movement. Reacting to the Chinmayi- Vairamuthu row, he said, “Those who are accused in #MeToo allegations should come out and speak. They are only answerable and it won’t be right if others who are not associated comment on this issue.”
“I welcome the #MeToo movement if it happens in an honest and truthful manner. I see it as a welcoming change. The movement should not be misused in making wrong accusations. It should stay genuine. The problems faced by women in this society should definitely come out and be addressed. The society has seen many such issues since Kannagi days,” he said.
Kannagi of Poompuhar was the tragic figure of the epic ‘Silappatikaram’ in which she wreaks revenge on Madurai after her merchant husband, who had actually abandoned her for another woman before reuniting, was wrongly accused of theft by the king and beheaded. It is an epic of women’s power in the days of Tamil glory and Kamal would feel an artistic as well as moral attachment to the classic in Tamil literature. He quotes it now to stress on woman power at a time when women are pouring out the pain and trauma of suffering sexual harassment.
The singer Chinmayi has been responding most actively to the survivors of sexual harassment, ensuring that even anonymous tweets are brought into the spotlight. She is the one who expressed her own anguish over lyricist Vairamuthu as the oppressor and even outed the cricket scandal involving Lasith Malinga as told by another anonymous sufferer.
Meanwhile, the #MeToo movement has elicited a government response with the woman and child development minister Maneka Gandhi proposing that four retired judges hold public hearings on the #MeToo issue after a committee looks into setting up the legal and institutional framework.
