Actress-director Lakshmy Ramakrishnan says she feels guilty about ‘abandoning’ her family in favour of work. “When I work, I always feel bad that I haven’t spent time with family. That longing is always within me.”
The director feels this is one of the reasons women filmmakers have not been able to make it in the film industry. “I have not been able to abandon all thought of family and focus only on my professional life at work,” she told Ananda Vikatan.
Society is also to blame for the lack of female directors in the industry, she feels. “Men don’t have the mindset to accept a woman taking on what has traditionally been considered a male role. Society has not taught them to process such a scenario. Maybe, in time, things will change,” she added.
The current trend in Tamil cinema is to dumb down women and treat them with no respect, Lakshmy observed. “Once upon a time, directors such as K Balachander and Mahendran gave us stories that respected women. Now, we have films in which they disrespect the female lead. So, how will they treat a film made by a woman?”
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Lakshmy Ramakrishnan refused to comment on the controversy surrounding actress Sri Reddy, who has accused actors and directors in the Telugu and Tamil film industries of sexually exploiting her after promising her a role, and going back on their word. “I don’t want to talk about this. When normal women, who are faced with such issues, talk about it on my show – Solvathellam Unmai, it is disgusting. But, if people like Sri Reddy talk about it and someone offers support, it is different. Why is that? Is it because Sri Reddy is an actress?” she said.
Lakshmy’s show has come in for much criticism from certain sections, saying it is deeply voyeuristic and treads into people’s personal space. But, the actress has maintained that it has allowed people a shot at resolution of issues.