Desperate times mandate desperate measures, warns Nayanthara in her statement to Radha Ravi’s abuse

In reply to the abuse by actor Radha Ravi, actress Nayanthara put out an official statement slamming the actor for his ‘cheap comments’. The actress went on to ask for the implementation of an ICC (Internal Complaints Committee) for the South Indian Artiste’s Association according to the Supreme Court of India guidelines. 

The actress began her statement by saying that she avoids making statements as policy, but ‘desperate times mandate desperate measures.’ The actress thanked DMK president MK Stalin for his prompt suspension of Radha Ravi from the party for his remarks, before adding, “By demeaning the status of women and passing sexist remarks, these retarded men get a feeling of machismo.” 

Slamming the senior actor for his comments, Nayanthara writes, “As an actor of considerable seniority and work experience, Mr Radha Ravi should have led the younger generation by example. Instead, he has chosen to take up the role of a ‘misogynist’ role model.” 

Not sparing the gathered audience that Radha Ravi addressed, Nayanthara wrote, “What remains ghastly shocking about his male chauvinistic speeches are that he never ceases to get applause and laughs from some members of the audience. As long as the audience encourage sexist remarks, speakers like Mr Radha Ravi will continue to thrive on misogyny and cracking of denigrating jokes against women.” 

The actress said that the comment will not deter her from selecting roles. She said, “I shall continue to take up the multifaceted roles of Sita, ghost, goddess, friend, wife, lover so on and so forth with the sole intention of providing maximum entertainment to my fans.” 

The sentence is a direct take on the insulting statement by Radha Ravi which revolved around Nayanthara being chosen to play both goddess and lover in different films. 

In her statement, the actress also pulled up the Nadigar Sangam (South Indian Artiste’s Association) to set up a Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) to tackle complaints of sexual harassment as directed by the Supreme Court’s Vishakha Guidelines. 

Radha Ravi has been dismissed from the DMK party of which he was a member, with several actors and directors slamming his statement.