At an event today, actress Kasthuri Shankar tried taking a selfie with Karthi. She said because his father, actor Sivakumar, was not there she need not hesitate to take the picture. This angered actor Karthi, who had just walked up to the podium to speak. He said taking selfies without people’s permission had become common, and it was disrespectful.
The event was the audio launch of July Kaatril, the upcoming film directed by debutant KC Sundaram. Kasthuri, who was hosting the launch, invited Karthi to speak about the film and its director. She then made the comment in reference to Karthi’s father Sivakumar who had been trolled in the past for knocking off the phones of fans who took selfies without asking him.
Karthi said, “This is completely unwanted now. The act of taking a selfie has become disrespectful, with no one asking permission before taking the picture. The phone is shoved in front of the face. And to add to it, both front and back camera flashes are bright might affect a person with migraine. It has become disheartening to see people do this.”
He then smiled and said, “I had to say it this way now, otherwise I wouldn’t have got a chance.”
Kasthuri responded that her intention was just to have fun, and it was a temporary moment. She said, “Since we are public figures, people rush to take selfies and this is a problem faced more commonly by women than men. People are not bothered about what we feel or where we are, and are just looking at their phones. These things are done without knowledge that it is an invasion of privacy.”
After the speech, the actress requested Karthi if he would take a picture with her since they didn’t have one together. Kasthuri, Karthi and director KS Ravikumar posed for the picture.
