A day after actor and director T Rajendar insulted actor Dhansika for leaving his name out while thanking people on stage, actor and Tamil Films Producer's Council president Vishal has voiced his support for the latter.
Vishal issued a notice condemning T Rajendar for continuously targeting Dhansika despite the fact that she apologised to him.
Actor Vishal wrote on social media, “I strongly condemn Mr TR for continuously targeting Dhansika despite the fact that she apologised to him and he could have avoided all this.”
During the press conference of an upcoming movie Vizhithiru on Thursday, Dhansika thanked a few people but left out the name of T Rajendar. After this, Rajender went on a rant stating that she had worked in Vizhithiru before working in a Rajinikanth film.
Dhansika had acted as Rajinikanth’s daughter in the Tamil movie Kabali.
Coming out in support of Dhansika, Vishal stated that it’s common to forget names on stage. “Director TR is a multi-talented senior person. It's very common for a person on stage to miss mentioning names while addressing a gathering. I have myself, forgotten to mention or thank certain people or the ones sitting on the dais in the past,” he wrote on Facebook.
Even after Dhansika repeatedly apologized, T Rajendar continued insulting her. He said, "You haven't come dressed in a saree and you are saying sorry." Later, when she said that she had great respect for him, he asked her where he could go and sell her respect. He then lectured her on how to conduct oneself onstage.
Despite apologising, he did not pardon her, said Vishal. “Dhansika apologised and even fell at Mr TR's feet, after he pointed out that she missed mentioning his name. Mr TR didn't pardon Dhansika who is as old as his daughter,” he stated.
He also added that he knows Dhansika very well and she would not have done it intentionally. “It's very difficult for women to come up in the cine industry. I know Dhansika very well and people who know her know well that she wouldn't have done anything like this intentionally.”
Vishal also mentioned two actors, Krishna Kulasekaran and Vidharth who could be seen laughing and clapping while T Rajendar was insulting Dhansika. “Now coming to the point, both you boys, Vidharth & Krishna, I think you guys should have had the least bit of decency not to clap when your own co star was being bullied. Completely not called for, buck up.”
Here is the full statement:
After Vishal's statement, filmmaker Venkat Prabhu who was onstage with TR and Dhansika tweeted that he was caught "off-guard" and that what started as teasing became serious later.
#vizhithiru press meet issue pic.twitter.com/s531j1QPLZ
— venkat prabhu (@vp_offl) September 30, 2017