The GOAT director Venkat Prabhu says it's time Tamil film industry addressed abuse allegations: ‘Ensure punishment’

In a recent interview, director Venkat Prabhu spoke about the issue of sexual harassment in the Tamil film industry. Here's what he said.

Director Venkat Prabhu recently stated in an interview that he believes it’s time for the Tamil film industry to address allegations of sexual harassment head-on after the release of the Hema Committee report. He spoke to NDTV about his hope for a safer working environment for women. (Also Read: Radhika Sarathkumar: ‘Told my husband to come out in support of women artistes, it will give hope’)

‘Women go through it in all industries’

Venkat Prabhu says he has two daughters and would like a safer working environment for women.

Venkat told the publication that ensuring abusers face punishment is one way to deter future offences against women in the workplace. He said, “At least from now, the Tamil film industry should start clearing things up. I have two daughters. We need a safer place for women. Women go through the same in all sectors, including media, IT, and sports, but the cinema industry often finds itself under the spotlight. Ensure punishment so men will be scared to do what they do.”

When Venkat was asked if the Tamil film industry should have acted on singer Chinmayi Sripada’s sexual harassment claims against lyricist Vairamuthu and actor Radha Ravi, he simply said that the industry is ‘taking care of it’. Chinmayi also spoke to the publication and claimed that neither the industry not the FEFSI has ‘done anything’ to make the film industry a safer place for women.

Venkat’s last film was the Telugu-Tamil bi-lingual Custody, starring Naga Chaitanya and Arvind Swami in the lead roles. The film was released in theatres in 2023 to a lukewarm response. His next film, The Greatest of All Time (The GOAT) will be released in theatres on September 5. The film stars Vijay in dual roles alongside Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Ajmal Ameer, Mohan, Jayaram, Sneha, Laila, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Vaibhav, Yogi Babu, Premgi Amaren and Yugendran.