'Thangalaan' star Vikram calls incidents of crime against women ‘disgusting'

MUMBAI: Women need to feel safe at any odd hours or place and the onus on men to give them their space, says South star Vikram, who termed the recent incidents of crime against women in the country "disgusting".

The 58-year-old actor's remarks come in the wake of the alleged rape and murder of a female doctor in Kolkata and the Justice Hema Committee report on women's exploitation in Malayalam cinema.

"All women need to feel protected. They should be able to walk the streets at 3.00 in the morning and feel they can walk, go home, and that nobody will do anything. That every man is there to protect them, to give them their space. It's disgusting what's happening," Vikram told PTI.

The actor, whose Tamil film "Thangalaan" is releasing in North India with the Hindi version arriving in theatres on Friday, said he has often wondered about tackling the issue of women's safety in his films.

“We get affected by most things that happen... I've always thought that if I was creative, would I address it more in my movies? Will I do something?” he said.

Vikram said perhaps inspiration needs to be drawn from "Thangalaan" director Pa Ranjith whose films' recurrent theme is about changing the entire system.

"It's something that I'm trying to figure out, ‘What do we do? What does the nation need to do? Do we start young? Do we start inculcating these things in children?' As Pa Ranjith says, ‘Change the whole system and start from scratch'. I don't know, something has to be done," he added.

A postgraduate trainee woman doctor was allegedly raped and murdered in the seminar hall of Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, following which a Kolkata Police civic volunteer was arrested.

The Justice Hema Committee report, released on August 19, details the power nexus in the Malayalam cinema industry and lays bare the multiple levels of exploitation faced by women in it. The Kerala government-appointed panel to study issues of sexual harassment and gender inequality was constituted after the 2017 actress assault case involving actor Dileep.

Vikram, one of the most popular names from Tamil cinema known for stellar performances in "Anniyan", "Sethu", "Deiva Thirumagal", and "Ponniyin Selvan" films, plays the titular role in the Tamil period drama "Thangalaan".

Set against the backdrop of the Kolar gold mines of Karnataka in the 19th century, the film released globally in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam on August 15.

According to the makers, "Thangalaan" is nearing the Rs 100 crore-mark at the worldwide box office.

Malavika Mohanan, Parvathy Thiruvothu and Daniel Caltagirone round out the cast of the film, produced by Studio Green.