When a woman comes to power, she tries to be an alpha male: Arjun Rampal

‘Inkaar’ cast shared several interesting facts about the movie that is based on the global issue of sexual harassment and the gender dynamics at work.

Resham Sengar

New Delhi: ‘Inkaar’ cast Arjun Rampal, Chitrangada Singh came down to Zee News’ office in Noida with director Sudhir Mishra in tow all the way from the city of Mumbai to talk about their latest ‘Inkaar’ slated for release next week. The trio shared several interesting facts about the movie that is based on the global issue of sexual harassment and the gender dynamics at work. Talking about ‘Inkaar’, Arjun Rampal said, “The film has tried to show that when a woman comes to power at her workplace, she tries to get into the skin of an alpha male. And the men working with her find it hard to take that attitude owing to their male ego. This is an eternal problem that has managed to sustain even with the changing times. Our film explores the dynamics how the male-female equation at work is suddenly changing. ” Arjun, who is married to Mehr Jessia – a widely popular super model-turned-home maker, thinks that the problem of sexual harassment at work, male-female ego clashes, and competition between the two genders for power at the workplace is prevalent everywhere be it in the media sector or the government run organizations. Dusky beauty Chitrangada Singh, who is an army officer’s daughter married to golfer Jyoti Randhawa is a mother to a little boy. Being a working mom has its own demands but Chitrangada is a right hand at all her domestic and professional responsibilities. However, she dislikes being called a yummy mummy. “I don’t like the word ‘yummy’. It feels like another form of objectification of women,” she said. In a career spanning almost a decade, Chitrangada has taken up only strong, bold roles. But she does not want to get stereotyped and desires to be more versatile. “I have definitely played bold roles in my earlier films. I agree that Maya, my character in ‘Inkaar’ is a bold lady, but I think that I always play independent, real and opinionated roles. That’s possibly the reason why people feel that I always play bold roles. I agree that I have done audacious roles but I don’t want to get defined by only those characters.” The shameless and horrific Delhi gang rape incident that took the life of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student has left a number of people in a state of shock and the cast of ‘Inkaar’ is no exception. The trio expressed anger, disbelief and grief over the nature of brutality committed towards the two victims on the fateful night of December 16, 2012. “The first thing that struck my mind was that for more than half an hour, onlookers and the police did not pay any heed to the victims’ plight when they were thrown on the road. They (the police) never let go of any opportunity to impose a fine of Rs 100 on the innocent citizens to fill their pockets,” said Sudhir Mishra. The doting father and a husband Arjun Rampal could not stop himself from expressing his feeling thus: “I have two daughters at home and I know how much it hurts when such atrocities are committed towards other women. Being a man I feel ashamed that in reality we men are cowards when it comes to helping the needy.” The cast claimed that ‘Inkaar’ is in no way similar to the gang rape case since they started shooting for the film long time back and they are not even trying to cash in the popularity of this incident. But they did suggest a few measures to bring that much-needed change in the mindset of the people in the society. “It has to start at the home ground level. A boy must be made to understand that there is no difference between him and his sister. Such kind of values must be inculcated in the children during their growing up years,” told Chitrangada to Zee News. The talk ended with the cast unanimously taking the stand of rewarding the whistle-blowers who expose the loopholes in the system. “They should be rewarded for their bravery. We strongly pitch for the boy who tried to help to save the gang rape victim to be bestowed with the bravery award this Republic Day,” jointly said the trio.