BOLLYWOOD: A CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE
When actress Tanushree Dutta reminded Indians of the alleged sexual harassment she suffered at the hands of Nana Patekar a decade ago on the sets of Horn Ok Pleassss, Bollywood professionals didn’t respond with #metoo but #IBelieveHer. The hashtag is proof that Bollywood is far away from following Hollywood’s example in opening the can of worms that led to producer Harvey Weinstein, actor Kevin Spacey, comedian Bill Cosby, to name a few, losing favour with the public and the entertainment industry—and face legal action. Ethical Bollywood is content still lifting only stories and plotlines.
Dutta’s story gained some traction only after Janice Sequeira, then a reporter with Aaj Tak and Headlines Today, validated her account, which, in turn, was further backed by the film’s assistant director Shyni Shetty. It’s their tweets that got Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar, Sonam Kapoor and Swara Bhasker to come out and support Dutta. But even after this, and despite the nods and winks and asides, the industry seemed locked together in a conspiratorial silence.
Those expecting more actresses to come forward with their own tales of abuse can look elsewhere for there will be no #TimesUp movement nor an awards show where celebrities dress in black to express solidarity with the victims. This is a tremor that won’t lead to a tsunami. For industry heavyweights like Amitabh Bachchan, silence is bliss; he refused to be drawn in to the controversy at the trailer launch of his upcoming film, Thugs of Hindostan. “Neither is my name Tanushree nor Nana Patekar,” was his tame response. Bachchan Sr, incidentally, is the ambassador of the government’s ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign and had won awards for
his role in Pink, to promote which he wrote a long letter to his granddaughters warning them of the “difficult world” women have to grow up in.
The most telling reaction on Dutta’s allegation came, unsurprisingly, from another actress—Raveena Tandon, who tweeted: “The fact that many industry wives/ girlfriends are silent observers or instigators when actor husbands destroy actresses’ careers after the chase and flirtation is over, [and] have them replaced with other potential targets, makes our films on women’s empowerment hollow.” Tandon’s diatribe on the hypocrisy of Bollywood is spot on, including her unsparing criticism of women who, by turning their backs to the philandering of the men in their lives, become complicit in the offence. Even after Dutta had spoken up, filmmaker and choreographer Farah Khan shared a photograph on Instagram with the cast of Housefull 4—directed by her brother Sajid—that included a beaming Patekar. Author-actor Twinkle Khanna shared her support for Dutta, but her husband, Akshay Kumar, co-stars with Patekar in the same film. There’s no call to boycott Patekar even after actors like Renuka Shahane admitted that many men and women have faced the wrath of his volatile temper.
Earlier instances prove that the industry is unwilling to even reprimand, let alone punish, men who have been accused of inappropriate or violent behaviour. In 2002, Aishwarya Rai issued an emotional statement declining to work with her ex, Salman Khan, for “the sake of my well-being, my sanity...” Rai went on to add that in her two-year relationship, she had endured his alcoholism and “verbal, physical, emotional” abuse. Khan sailed through all this, practically unblemished.
What will discourage actresses from sharing their experiences is the aspersions cast on Dutta in the aftermath of her disclosure, predominant being that she seeks publicity after her return from the US, where she is now settled. That Dutta is defiant and demands action infuriates her detractors even more. Bollywood, it appears, won’t mend its ways; till July 2018, only seven production houses had agreed to form sexual harassment cells as required under the Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act.
Last year, a female assistant accused director Vikas Bahl of molestation. The incident was forgotten and Bahl got an opportunity to direct Hrithik Roshan in a biopic on Super30 founder Anand Kumar. Will Dutta get a second chance? Will anyone step forward to revive the career of a woman who exposes its dirty secrets? As actress Richa Chadha said, “Silence is a choice.” Indeed. It’s a choice our actresses have exercised for long to survive in the film industry. The cracks that have appeared lately offer the hope that they may find the courage to speak up some day.
The industry is unwilling to even reprimand, let alone punish, men who have been accused of inappropriate behaviour