Girls should hit back if touched inappropriately, says Akshay Kumar

Bollywood actors Akshay Kumar and Taapsee Pannu during the promotion of film Naam Shabana in New Delhi, India on March 27, 2017. (Jyoti Kapoor/SOLARIS IMAGES)

New Delhi: Actor Akshay Kumar, who is trained in martial arts, says girls should not panic if touched inappropriately. They should instead hit back. Akshay, along with the team of his forthcoming film "Naam Shabana" -- co-actors Manoj Bajpayee and Taapsee Pannu and producer Neeraj Pandey -- visited the Gargi College for women here on Monday morning.

Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar during the promotion of film Naam Shabana in New Delhi, India on March 27, 2017. (Jyoti Kapoor/SOLARIS IMAGES) Here, Akshay spoke extensively on the importance of women knowing self-defence techniques. "In our country, I believe, girls should not learn martial arts or self-defence because I feel they should be free to walk anywhere, anytime, anyplace. But unfortunately, because of some dirty people they have to learn self-defence," Akshay said. Bollywood actors Akshay Kumar and Taapsee Pannu during the promotion of film Naam Shabana in New Delhi, India on March 27, 2017. (Jyoti Kapoor/SOLARIS IMAGES) "I am running a school in Mumbai and I want to open one school here (in Delhi) but I don't know when it will happen. I just want to tell you one thing -- if a guy touches you, then don't panic, in fact, hit him back and run," he added. The 49-year-old actor says that a man is successful in harassing a girl when she "freezes" and doesn't react. "What happens in life -- How does a guy succeed in harassing a girl, to get her under control? Because a woman or a girl freezes. She doesn't know when a man touches her, she doesn't know what to do. So don't ever freeze, just shout... That is the biggest thing, just shout loudly and run, but don't freeze," Akshay said. Bollywood actors Akshay Kumar and Manoj Bajpayee during the promotion of film Naam Shabana in New Delhi, India on March 27, 2017. (Jyoti Kapoor/SOLARIS IMAGES) Akshay is known for his work in action-packed films like the "Khiladi" series as well as other action films such as "Mohra", "Elaan", "Suhaag", "Rowdy Rathore" and "Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty". Bollywood actor Taapsee Pannu during the promotion of film Naam Shabana in New Delhi, India on March 27, 2017. (Jyoti Kapoor/SOLARIS IMAGES) As a promotional step for "Naam Shabana", Akshay and Taapsee had also posted on social media a video teaching self-defence techniques to girls. "Naam Shabana" is an action spy-thriller film directed by Shivam Nair and produced by Neeraj Pandey and Shital Bhatia under the Friday Filmworks banner. A spin-off of the 2015 film "Baby", with Taapsee reprising her role as Shabana, the film is releasing on Friday.