Vikrant Massey: We are not doing enough to stop acid attacks

Mumbai, Nov 19 (IANS) Bollywood actor Vikrant Massey plays a pivotal role in the Deepika Padukone-starrer "Chhapaak", which is based on the real-life story of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal. Pointing out how most of his choices reflect his opinion, Vikrant told IANS: "I won't associate myself with any project that I do not believe in. I strongly believe that an acid attack is one of the most heinous crimes in the world, so if we are talking about a progressive society where we are trying to create an environment of parity for all genders, it is a shame that we are yet to eradicate a crime like an acid attack. The report says that in India, most of the cases are of jilted lovers. When a girl rejects the proposal of a boy, the boy throws acid on her face!" After a pause that clearly signals outrage, he added: "No one has the right to ruin someone's life like that!" "We are a developing country and we are sending Chandrayaan to the moon, and showing the world how we are progressing! Yet we are, at the same time, still living with a criminal practice like acid attack! We all know that it is wrong, still we are not doing enough to stop it!" added the actor. Over the past few years, Vikrant has managed to make his space with films like "Dil Dhadakne Do", "A Death In The Gunj", "Half Girlfriend", and "Lipstick Under My Burkha". Interestingly all these films address issues like parental interference in an adult life, elitism in society, language barrier, and gender disparity. The actor said he uses film as a medium to express his thoughts. "I have a lot of things to say in my lifetime and, being an actor, cinema is my medium. I am glad that I am an artist who gets a chance to reach out to thousands of people at one time. Being a sensitive human being, I always try and choose stories that somewhere translates my opinion," said Vikrant, who has also explored the digital entertainment space with web shows like "Mirzapur", "Made In Heaven", "Criminal Justice" . He will soon be seen in the new season of the web series "Broken But Beautiful", where he shared screen space with actress Harleen Sethi. The show will be streaming on the OTT platform ZEE5 and ALT Balaji from November 27. Ians