The time is just about right. Over the last few weeks, workplace harassment has been the hot topic of discussion at all forums – online and offline.  The allegations of sexual harassment on the CEO of online entertainment source, The Viral Fever, Aunabh Kumar by a former female colleague has brought the spotlight back on the issue. So it’s no big surprise that Chennai-based YouTube channel, Put Chutney, known for its satirical take on issues of national interest, has titled its latest video as Office Romance (pretty interesting!).

The image of a sexual harasser is often relegated to someone who belongs to a certain strata of society or is not properly educated or did not have the right upbringing. As a result, when a well-groomed colleague tends to harass a female colleague in office, the issue is not given due relevance by office authorities and often, ignored.

Put Chutney’s video shows Venkatesh Harinathan, who plays the role of Venky complaining to HR manager, played by Vinodhini Vaidyanathan, that his colleague Anjali (Lakshmi Priya) has been distracting him from working by doing ‘suggestive’ actions like….well, drinking water, walking, etc. In the process it takes a potshot at Tamil cinema that frequently tends to eroticize normal actions performed by actresses and the huge impact it has on the lead actors.

Post the numerous cases of stalking and murders by harassers; there has been so much discussion about films glorifying stalking and violence against women. Yet, top film directors across industries have been putting across these regressive ideas. The video establishes this link and even has a fleeting reference to Cupid (if you have watched the stalking-glorifying, Sivakarthikeyan-starrer Remo, you would know!).

It ends by putting forth that the protagonist Venky  will hardly mend his ways in the future as well as he just moves on from one ‘love’ to another while the HR manager tries to explain to him that what he’s doing is harassment at workplace. Pretty sorry state of affairs, isn’t it!

Here is the Put Chutney’s Video: