‘Respect me - I’m not a piece of meat’
ARALAXMI Sarath Kumar, pictured, says actresses shouldn’t be judged on what they wear on screen.
She didn’t directly comment on the recent incident involving the kidnap and alleged assault of a popular Malayalam actress, but she did share a haunting incident from her own life.
“I was in a meeting with the programming head of a leading TV channel. Towards the end of the half-hour meeting, he asked ACTRESS Shruti Haasan, pictured, said she returned to the sets of Pawan Kalyanstarrer upcoming Telugu actioner Katamarayudu after a brief hiatus.
“Hello Hyderabad! Back for the shoot of Katamarayudu and looking forward to some super duper work today,” Shruti tweeted.
The project marks her reunion with Pawan after five years. me: ‘So when can we meet outside?’ To which I replied: ‘Regarding some other work?’ He said: ‘No … for other things.’
“I hid my shock and anger and told him: ‘Sorry, please leave.’ His last words were: ‘So, that’s all?’ ” Varalaxmi wrote in a note, which she shared on her Twitter page.
She says the common reaction from people when they hear such things is to assume the film industry is like this.
“I didn’t come to the industry to be treated like a piece of meat or to follow the standards of exploitation.
“I love acting. It’s my profession of choice. I work hard and I’m good at my work. I don’t want to choose the option of ‘put up with it or quit’.”
She says men should be taught not to disrespect women.
“I am an actress. It does not mean that just because I lead a glamorous life on screen that I deserve to be spoken with disrespect.
The duo had previously worked together in the 2012 Telugu actioner Gabbar Singh.
Katamarayudu, a remake of the Tamil film Veeram, is being directed by Kishore Kumar Pardasani. The film also stars Tarun Arora, Chaitanya Krishna, Siva Balaji and Kamal Kamaraju.
Produced by North Star Entertainment, the movie is gearing up for release on March 29. – IANS
ACTRESS Kareena Kapoor Khan, right, is expecting Rangoon, which features her husband Saif Ali Khan, to become one of the best films of this
year. Kareena, who attended the screening of the Vishal Bhardwaj directorial recently, said: “I am expecting Rangoon to be the film of the year because it is directed by one of my favourite directors, Vishal
Bhardwaj. I have worked in Omkara with him. I think people are also expecting a lot from this film.
“I am also excited about Saif because he was so good as Langda Tyagi (in Omkara). It is one of his iconic roles. In Rangoon, his character is very striking. For the first time, he is playing a Parsi film
producer.” Kareena, 36, said she normally doesn’t like to
attend a film’s screening. “I had to go because it is an emotional film because of Saif, Vishal and Sajid (Nadiadwala) with
whom I’ve worked previously.” The period drama also features Kareena’s former beau, Shahid Kapoor, and actress Kangana Ranaut.
It was released on Friday. Kareena said Bhardwaj’s films had the most arresting portrayals by negative characters.
“There are three stellar actors in this film, Kangana, Shahid and Saif. All brilliant actors, and there will be competition in the film to give their
best. “I am expecting nothing less than the outstanding performances as they are the best in the industry,”
said the actress, who is loving motherhood. Workwise, Kareena is looking forward to starting the shooting for her next film, Veere Di Wedding.
“We are going to start in May. I am quite excited about it. The story is about four girls and there isn’t any male lead, which is very interesting.” Alongside Kareena, Veere Di Wedding features Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha
Talsania. – IANS It’s my life, my body and my wish. No man should assume he can get away with disrespecting me.”
She wants women to be treated equally with men.
“Instead of lecturing women on what to wear, how to speak, and behave appropriately, how about we start telling our men to stop thinking with their genitals, and start looking at women as strong, free, capable and equal human beings?
“Every parent needs to start this at home.” – IANS ACTORS Sundeep Kishan, Sudheer Babu, Aadi and Nara Rohith, pictured, have teamed up for the upcoming Telugu crimecomedy Samantha Kamani and its director, Sriram Adittya, says there is something special about each of their characters.
“When I pitched the story, they really liked it because there’s something special about their characters. The uniqueness in their characters is what got them excited. Each of them has equal screen space in the film,” Adittya said.
With the film slated to go on the floors from this month, it is probably the first time four leading actors from Telugu filmdom have come together for a project.
“It’s going to be a quirky film. All the four lead actors will be seen in never-seenbefore avatars. The story is going to be very fresh and will relate to the common man. It’s based on a very unique real life incident, but it’s too early to divulge more information,” he said.
To be completely shot in Hyderabad, the film also features veteran star Rajendra Prasad in a pivotal role.
Talking about the film, Adittya said: “Technically, the film will be very rich and will reach the expectations set by my first film.”
The rest of the cast and crew are yet to be finalised.
The film is being bankrolled by Anand Prasad under Bhavya Creations. – IANS