The ever-concerned Bollywood decided to extend their “sympathies” to the mutilated victim of the case that had rocked India over the past couple of weeks. With emotional appeals, on ‘hand written, heart touching placards’, legendary Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor led the way with the ‘I Am Ashamed’ campaign, and for a while it looked like one of the most highest profile film industries will finally have its say in the process of nation building, forcing the government to show some teeth and give justice to the victims, until this happened:-
“………This is going on from Baba Aadam’s [Adam] times, it is not new. Someone or the other always tries to take advantage of a girl……”
One statement, just one statement, and the entire charade that the elite clan of Bollywood was putting up in the name of women empowerment and justice came crashing down. In case you think this is just another motor mouth from Bollywood who is trying to justify this horrendous concept in his / her rants, it isn’t. The person who has made this statement is surprisingly Nirmala Nagpal [now known as Saroj Khan], a venerated, legendary choreographer.
Yes, the very Saroj Khan, who has given peppy dance numbers like ‘Ek Do Teen’ from Tezaab, or ‘Tamma Tamma Loge’ from ‘Thanedaar’, or even the legendary ‘Dola Re Dola’ from ‘Devdas’.
In her statement on the notorious casting couch, she said,
“…..This is going on from ‘Baba Aadam’s times’, it is not new. Someone or the other always tries to take advantage of a girl. The government does it too, then why are we only behind the film industry?
……It provides livelihood at least. Does not rape and leave you. It is up to the girl, what she wants to do. If you don’t want to fall into wrong hands, you won’t. If you have art, why would you sell yourself? Don’t take the film industry’s name; it is everything to us….”
Yes, you heard that right. Of all things, Saroj Khan has decided to justify the horrific concept of casting couch. But what is ‘ casting couch ’? This is a concept where the casting crew, or a director/producer or some individual with authority, forces the aspiring actors or actresses in the concerned film industry to perform sexual favours, which is tantamount to sexual harassment, in order for them to ‘earn’ their ticket to Bollywood. While actors like Ranveer Singh, Ayushmann Khurrana and Kangana Ranaut have opened up about their harrowing experiences with the same, none of them have accused any major player in the Bollywood league as of yet.
Coming back to the statement made by Saroj Khan, are these words any different from the absurd justifications of the violent crime that is rape? If not, why is there no outrage on this atrocious statement, as should have been the norm after the Kathua case? Was the outrage for the Kathua victim as shown by the elite clan from Bollywood just free PR? Maybe, because given how nobody has raised objections to the statement made by Saroj Khan, one can’t be blamed for thinking so.
https://twitter.com/ippatel/status/988657617642840064
To be frank, this statement from Saroj Khan only exposes the knee-deep hypocrisy that the powerful in Bollywood love to gorge on. With their ‘Sanatan shaming’ mode being royally exposed and mocked by one and all, the choreographer has only added further salt to the wounds of the same.
Only time will tell if someone steps out of the shadows from Bollywood’s darkness and exposes the horrible culture prevalent there. For now, we can’t help but cringe at such a regressive approach. Saroj Khan ought to be ashamed for defending and justifying sexual abuse, irrespective of the situation.