Mysskin sparks outrage by speaking about raping Mammootty

At the audio launch of Peranbu, director Mysskin took to the stage to share a shocking and cringe-worthy line about his desire. He said that if he was a girl, he would have raped Mammootty. Yes, we aren’t lying or making it up. These were the exact words said by the celebrated director who made films such as Chithiram Pesuthadi, Anjathe, Yuddham Sei and Thupparivaalan. What makes it more appalling is that his speech is followed by an applause, giggles, and cheers from the audience. The words he utters about rape so casually is disturbing. He first began by saying how much he loved Mammootty, followed by his desires, which seemed vile and disturbing to say the least. Mysskin displays a sense of pride and reinforces a sense of toxic masculinity, that’s prevalent in the society. A filmmaker such as himself should hold a sense of responsibility at a public gathering.

Not just that, the director began to rave about Mammootty’s performance by taking a dig at the Tamil film actors. He sarcastically mentioned that Tamil actors would overact whereas, Mammootty would bring life to the character.

In a time where Hollywood has sparked the world’s interest due to the #MeeToo moment where several women are speaking up against sexual misconduct, other film industries must also learn to do so. Sri Reddy has caused shock in the Telugu and Tamil film industries by speaking about how directors have asked sexual favours from her promising work. We certainly hope bigwigs from the Tamil film industry change their opinions and conduct themselves better. As for the ones who cheered on, you have a lot of self-reflection to do.