Actor Gouri Kishan, who's busy promoting her upcoming film Others, recently called out a reporter for asking a body shaming question to her. In a press interaction on Thursday, the '96 actor shut down queries about her weight, calling it "highly disrespectful", "unnecessary" and "stupid". Despite repeated arguments from the reporter, Gouri stood her ground, sparking a heated argument during the event.
As clips of the video went viral on social media, several celebrities, senior journalists as well as social media users supported the actor for slamming the reporter while praising her for standing up to the questions in a calm and composed tone. Celebrities like actor Kavin and singer Chinmayi came in support of Gouri while condemning misogynistic media practices in Tamil cinema.
In her post on X, Chinmayi wrote that she was proud of Gouri for pushing back against the comments. "Gowri did an amazing job. The moment you call out a disrespectful and an unnecessary question - a whole lot of shouting down happens. So proud that someone so young stood her ground and pushed back. No male actor gets asked what his weight is. No idea why they asked a female actor," she said. Replying to the message, the Hot Spot actor thanked her for the inspiration she provides to many women like her. "Women like you inspire us to stand our ground. Your support means a lot to me, thank you," she said.
Kavin called her inspiring and said, "Inside and out, you’re beautiful and inspiring, Gouri. Always stay the same." Apart from celebrities, several social media users also backed her for confronting the comments head-on and asserting her stance.
As the news spread, more celebrities including Khushbu Sundar and Richa Chadha supported Gouri and condemned the journalist for his insensitive comments. "Journalism has lost its ground. The so called journos take journalism to the gutters. How much a woman weighs is none of their business. And asking the hero about it?? What a shame! Kudos to the young Gouri Kishan who stood her ground and gave it back. Are the same men ok if we women, actors, turn around and ask the same question about the women in their families? Respect is never a one way traffic. Learn to give respect if you expect to be respected," probed the actor-politician.
Actor Richa Chadha too voiced her concern, highlighting struggles of women working in the industry. "It’s amazing that apart from the regular arduous struggle of showbiz, women have to navigate around so many floating turds, while swimming towards success and self realisation," she noted.
Gouri, who was seated alongside director Abin Hariharan, was asked by the reporter about her weight to which she replied how the question was relevant to her film, while underlining that she was being targeted with sexist remarks. "I'm the only woman in this room and I'm being targeted with such questions. You're not even showing basic respect for me just because I'm a woman," she said. She also questioned the lack of line of questioning about the film or about her character, and spoke on why were female actors were regularly questioned on their weight.
Gouri stars opposite debutant Aditya Madhavan in Others, a medical thriller, which is currently playing in theatres. The rest of the star cast includes Anju Kurian, Muniskanth, Harish Perady, Mala Parvathy, Jagan, and R Sundarrajan. While Gouri plays a doctor in the film, Aditya stars as a cop.
Produced by Murali of Grand Pictures banner and co-produced by Kartik G and Adhiraj Purushothaman, Others has composer Ghibran Vaibodha, cinematographer Aravinnd Singh, editor Ramar, art director Uma Shankar, and stunt director Phantom Pradeep.