Rekha opens up about how Kamal Haasan kissed her without her consent for ‘Punnagai Mannan’

South Indian actor Rekha once starred alongside massive superstar Kamal Haasan, in the 1986 romantic drama film Punnagai Mannan. Many years ago, Rekha had an interview with a news portal, where she revealed that the kiss she shared with Kamal Haasan in Punnagai Mannan was not consensual.

This interview has now gone viral on social media and has sparked outrage in the post #MeToo movement era. In a recent interview with The News Minute, Rekha once again spoke about the kissing scene and reaffirmed that it happened without her consent. 

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Rekha claims her kiss with Kamal Haasan in Punnagai Mannan was non-consensual

Speaking to the digital portal, Rekha said that the scene was shot without her knowing about it. She added that people asked her the same question and she was fed up of answering it. However, Rekha did state that the kissing scene worked out in the end and was beneficial to the movie as a whole. She said that the kiss did not look ugly or aggressive on-screen. 

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Rekha mentioned how there was a need for the scene in the film, but she was a very young girl and did not know about it. Director K Balachander had only told Kamal Haasan about the scene and hadn't informed Rekha about it. Kamal Hassan then kissed Rekha without her permission to complete the scene. Rekha did say that it was only when she watched it in theatres that she realised that it had such a huge impact.

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Later, Rekha revealed that she had spoken to the associate directors and had told them that she would have never agreed to the scene. But they just brushed her off. She also revealed that Kamal Haasan never apologised to her, and she did not expect him to, as the movie was a superhit and started off her career.

Finally, Rekha said that there was no point in talking about this topic anymore, as it happened many years ago.

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