Tamil Nadu: 'Who is beautiful, Malayali or Tamil women?' asked scrapped talk show episode
The show, which is hosted by a well-known anchor, had even asked netizens to vote on the topic question in an online poll.
"Who is beautiful, Malayali or Tamil women?"
This was the topic of an episode of a popular Tamil talk show which was scrapped before it could be aired on Sunday, after police asked the channel which produces the programme not to broadcast it.
And that happened after activists, and the Network of Women In Media (NWIM), pointed out that the episode - of Vijay TV's Neeya Naana - objectified women. Some women activists filed a complaint.
In fact, the show, which is hosted by a well-known anchor, Gopinath, had asked netizens to vote on the topic question in an online poll.
Its director, Antony, said "some left fundamentalists" were against the programme. It was he who revealed that police asked for the show to be scrapped.
"The show was only to showcase the psyche of women in Kerala and Tamil (Nadu). It's about their views on (the) beauty of their clothes, leadership and personality."
"Why demand a ban even before the programme was aired?" he asked.
Kavita Muralidharan, a member of the NWIM's Chennai chapter, told India Today, "Yes, there was a poll, and I think it was obnoxious. I most certainly agree with Antony that freedom of expression is of utmost importance. But he should have also been responsible as someone behind the show which is hugely popular."
"The promos...clearly said the show was about who was more beautiful, and this is certainly distasteful and demeaning to women. It was clearly a case of objectification of women," she said.