Rakul’s kiss on Jhansi invites charges of double standards

If you have watched ‘Manmadhudu-2’, you must have been taken aback by the scene where Avantika (Rakul Preet Singh) plants an unconsented kiss on Jhansi.  These are the days of #MeToo and the scene has understandably disgusted many.  

Imagine a male character in place of Rakul.  Feminists would have immediately and rightly described it as molestation.  When a man forces himself upon a man or a woman gets intimate with a woman without seeking consent, nobody sees it as groping or sexual misbehaviour.  Recently, a cop in Hyderabad was forcibly kissed by a Bonalu festival reveller.  A case was filed against him, not on the grounds that he molested the cop but because he “obstructed the performance of duty”.  

Coming back to ‘Manmadhudu-2’, what Rakul’s character does to Jhansi amounts to promotion of “rape culture”.  Calling out the scene, blogger Jeevana Mounika argues, “If Arjun Reddy kissing Preethi without her consent is toxic masculinity, Rakul kissing Jhansi without her consent is toxic femininity as well.  Where are those woke feminists who made a fuss? Yes, we all are hypocritical. But stooping to such a level!”  We can’t agree more!