Rekha’s Shocking Revelation: Kamal Hassan Kissed Me Without My Consent

An old video clip from filmmaker K. Balachander's 1986 film Punnagai Mannan has been making the rounds on the Internet and has created quite a storm online. Talking of the viral video, Tamil actress Rekha has revealed that the now-famous kiss with Kamal Haasan in the film was non-consensual, and she was not aware of it.

The scene in question from the film Punnagai Mannan had Rekha and Kamal steal a kiss before jumping off a waterfall. However, the actress reveals that she was completely unaware of the kiss. Rekha also states that she would never agree to do it if she knew about it beforehand. 

"They shot the scene without me knowing about it. Suresh Krissna and Vasanth were associate directors and I told them I wasn't informed about the kiss...they told me to think of it as a big king kissing a small child," Rekha said in the interview to The News Minute.

Rekha had just completed her Class 10 and was only 16 when she did the film. She also claims that the makers assured her that the ‘unplanned’ kiss would be cropped by the sensor board, which did not happen.

 "They continued after that shot also, we had a location shift. Suresh Krissna and Vasanth were the associate directors, and I told them I wasn't informed about the kiss and that I wouldn't have agreed to it. But they told me to think of it as a big king kissing a small child. They told me it wouldn't be passed by the Censor. I asked them what the Censor was!” Rekha added.

Rekha says that nobody believes her when she says the kiss happened without her consent and that Kamal Haasan is aware of it. She said: "Only he and the unit that was there can confirm what I've said. Balachander sir is no more. Only those who were there at the shoot know that the kiss happened without my consent."

However, Rekha asserted that when she saw the kiss on the big screen, she realised it was important for the story. "The kiss didn't look ugly or aggressive on-screen. There was a need for it, but I was a very young girl and I didn't know about it. He (director K Balachander) said, 'Kamal, close your eyes! You remember what I told you, right?' and Kamal said that he did. Then we had to jump when he said 1, 2, 3... we kissed and then jumped. It was only when I watched it in theatres that I realised it had such a huge impact," she said.

Further, Rekha says that she has never demanded an apology from either Kamal Haasan or the late Balachander for the ‘non-consensual’ kiss but soon after the old video has gone viral on the Internet, netizens have been asking Kamal Hassan to apologize. 

"I don't know about getting an apology but it is a fact that I wouldn't have said yes to the kiss at that time. They just did the scene suddenly. It's over now and I don't want to revisit it," Rekha concluded.