In an interesting turn of events, actress cum producer Anushka Sharma is all set to enter the genre of web series. Her production venture, Clean Slate Company is making a web series based on ‘The Story of My Assassins’, a book by Tarun J. Tejpal. As of now, the shooting of the same has begun in Delhi. Sounds impressive, no?
Not exactly. If one delves deeper into the name Tarun Tejpal, they’ll be in for a rude shock. He is the same Tarun Tejpal who was once known as the ‘king of sting operations’. Running an investigative magazine ‘Tehelka’, Tarun Tejpal, was accused by his colleague of sexually assaulting her in 2013, which caused a furore throughout the nation.
Though he was arrested, he is currently out on bail and all efforts are ironically being made to protect him from imminent custody by the very intelligentsia who would otherwise go hysterical on the mere mention of sexual assault.
Interestingly, Anushka Sharma has been a vociferous advocate of women’s rights. During the promotions of Sui Dhaaga, when actor Varun Dhawan, in a rare sensible move, questioned the timing of Tanushree Dutta’s absurd allegations of molestation against actor Nana Patekar, Anushka Sharma reacted harshly to his comments and said, “It doesn’t matter when are we discussing the issue, the fact that the problem exists is important and not the time. Don’t question those things that why is it happening so late.. it is not right! If Justice is not served, it can happen anytime.”
This is not all. Anushka Sharma spoke staunchly against Bollywood’s double standards on discrimination against women in an interview with film critic Anupama Chopra. Now, by agreeing to produce a web series based on a rape accused’s novel, who is allegedly being protected in all ways by the left liberals, isn’t Anushka Sharma being hypocritical to her own cause?
Has she read nothing about the person whose book she has taken up for her new project? Even if she did not do this intentionally, Anushka’s current project is currently in a bad taste, clearly not expected from an actress of her stature. But then, that’s Bollywood for you. When the elite can stay mum on allegations of sexual harassment against a person as influential as Rajkumar Hirani, how can Tarun Tejpal be left behind?