Following the TVF controversy, Raveena Tandon opts out of promoting her film on the platform

Arunabh Kumar, the founder of The Viral fever and the primary conceptualiser of the popular show ‘TVF Pitchers’, landed himself amid controversies when many blogs written by ex-female employees of the organisation surfaced, wherein they all accused him of sexual harassment.

While the issue continues to take more serious turns every day, actress Raveena Tandon has decided to not promote her upcoming release ‘Maatr- The Mother’ on the show. Raveena has always been vocal about equal social rights for women, and would not associate with a brand which is accused of lowering women’s dignity, at any cost.

“Raveena’s character is a working woman. Our film has been inspired by incidents which are happening in India today. Right now, we felt we should not get into it, so we have opted out of the TVF show. It’s a sensitive issue and we have to handle everything with care and not use whatever tools and means possible. We need to be careful of how we promote the film,” ‘Maatr’ co-producer Anjum Rizvi told a popular web portal. (Also Read: Teaser poster of Raveena Tandon-starrer ‘Maatr-The Mother’ out)

“Raveena is a vocal personality and doesn’t mince her words so we have a spokesperson anyway who will do all the talking! She is also involved in every aspect of the film as the subject is very close to her heart. She is excited about the film as it is relevant to what is happening. As filmmakers, we can raise issues, though we can’t come up with solutions. We are just highlighting the issue. It’s not a true story, but talks about whether women should or should not take law into their hands and how long they should wait for justice to be meted out,” he added.

Raveena, who was in new York when the controversy took place back in India, later learned about it and immediately decided it was going against the message she is trying to send out through her film. A strong advocate of empowerment, she says, ““I was not aware of the controversy as I was in New York and in the middle of a snow storm. Our film deals with a very strong message about zero tolerance to any form of violence or abuse against women — the film’s producers and actors feel that until allegations against the producer and the channel are proved wrong, we will refrain from promoting the film or any of the actors appearing on the said show.”

‘Maatr- The Mother’ releases on theatres on April 21st.

Ranjini Maitra

Journalist. Writer. Reader. Enthu cutlet. Mood-swing machine. Day dreamer. Sandwiched between ‘live life fully’ and ‘lose some weight’. Mantra of life: Love and love more.