The BBC documentary Bollywood’s Darkest Secret treads the path less taken and addresses the big elephant in the room - sexual harassment in B-town. For the insiders, it may not throw up eye-opening insights but it underscores the importance of the long overdue #MeToo movement in one of the largest film industries in the world.
With a compilation of supportive voices and first person accounts, the documentary shines a light on how, for those who arrive in throngs to India’s film capital - Mumbai to chase the glitzy Bollywood dream, the reality can be sleazy, disconcerting and dispiriting.
BBC's Rajini Vaidyanathan and Pratiksha Ghilidial spoke to actresses who allege that they have been sexually harassed by directors and casting agents.
The #MeToo movement in Hollywood that followed several women coming out with allegations of sexual misconduct against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was like a moment of reckoning. Vaidyanathan asked celebrities like Farhan Akhtar, Radhika Apte, Kalki and the National Award winning actor Usha Jadhav about Bollywood not following suit.
A 25-year-old aspiring actor concealed her identity but disclosed her ordeal at the hands of a casting agent. Having persuaded her conservative parents into letting her leave home in a small village in rural India to pursue a career in Bollywood, there was a lot at stake. When asked why she didn’t report it to the police, she said that she was turned away since they are ‘filmy’ people. Going public meant being labelled ‘a publicity hungry girl who wants money.’ This exploitation didn’t stop there. She was even more disillusioned after meeting a director.
“He told me you should be happy to have sex. You have great assets. Embrace your sexuality. Have the right attitude.”25-year-old aspiring actor (identity concealed)
Here are some of the standout quotes by actors who went on record and acknowledged the existence of casting couch in Bollywood.
“The way the women, and the men of course, came together and decided that as a team we are not going to let this happen, I wish that could happen here.”Radhika Apte, Actor
“For any real dialogue to happen, men need to get on board too. Both women and men get sexually harassed. It’s not only about men. It’s about power. It’s not a gender battle. It’s a battle against power.”Kalki Koechlin, Actor & Activist
The documentary introduces Farhan Akhtar as one of the few men addressing the issue in Bollywood.
“Bollywood’s #MeToo movement is on its way. There’s enough awareness. There’s enough dialogue. If there has to be some kind of a revolution, there has to be courage behind it. It is easy to tell someone why don’t you go forward and talk. But if women do speak out, they will find people to support them.”Farhan Akhtar, Actor & Founder MARD (Men Against Rape & Discrimination)
“The problem with Bollywood is that there are no checks or measures. No place for redressal. There’s no sexual harassment committee or cell in Bollywood.”Arun Raje, Editor/Director
Bollywood’s Dark Secret also brings up the item song where , ‘the woman is often scantily clad, lusted after by a group of men...’
An outsider’s perspective to sexual harassment in Bollywood, the short documentary ends on a glum note. It does not get into an investigative zone but simply highlights what is already known but barely acknowledged. Given the massive size of this industry, the fact that only a handful are willing to come on record and even concede that the casting couch exists in the industry (without mentioning names) only confirms the conclusion.
With few mechanisms to report any abuse, unless the most powerful in the industry come together and accept that there is a problem, Bollywood is unlikely to have its own #MeToo movement, Rajini Vaidyanathan concludes.
B-town does not seem to be ready to take off its blinders to shake up the entrenched power structures.
(Bollywood’s Dark Secret aired on BBC World News on Saturday 28th April at 12.40pm IST and on Sunday 29th April at 1.40pm and 3.40pm IST )
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