‘Shakthimaan’ actor denies making misogynistic statement on #MeToo
The actor who earned stardom for playing who is best known for playing the titular character in the Doordhasan superhero show Sakthimaan for the longest has been making headlines but for all wrong reasons. The senior actor has angered fans and netizens for his controversial statements on MeToo movement. In a viral clip that is surfacing online, Mukesh Khanna was seen saying that it is the duty of women to take care of the household.
In a rather misogynistic statement, Shaktimaan-starrer Mukesh Khanna has said that the #MeToo movement was caused because women “started stepping out of their homes to work”. A video of the actor’s statement has been widely circulated on social media.“Men and women are different. Women are supposed to take care of the household. The problem of #MeToo started when women started working. People talk about women’s liberation, but all that’s the core of all the issues. The first family member to suffer is the child who does not get the attention of his mother. They would be watching a saas-bahu TV serial with their nanny,” the actor said. Khanna’s views invoked many reactions on social media.
After facing backlash veteran actor Mukesh Khanna has issued a statement in his defense and “said, I am surprised that my statement has been perceived in an extremely wrong way, and is being looked at in a totally flawed context. The whole thing has been blown out of proportion. It’s being said that I am against women. But I can say with confidence that not many have as much respect for women as I do. I never said that women shouldn’t work.”
The #MeToo movement started in Hollywood in 2017 after many women from the entertainment industry called out various powerful men for sexually harassing them, drawing focus on workplace safety. A year later, it gathered momentum in Bollywood when actor Tanushree Dutta accused Nana Patekar of sexual harassment. Following this, many women in the Indian film industry came out to speak against the culture of a toxic work environment.
