Neena Gupta Recalls Walking Out Of A Lot Of Projects Due To Sexual Harassment At Workplace
Neena Gupta talks about her MeToo and it's shocking.
One good thing is that this movement has created a fear in men that if they do anything wrong to a girl she will go out and speak, says a hopeful Neena Gupta.
Indiatimes met Neena Gupta at her beautiful home, where she was laid-back and her honest self with no inhibitions and sitting comfortably in her drawing room, Neena talked about the #MeToo Movement.
Shedding light on an unseen shift in Bollywood, Neena says, ¡°A major change happened in last one year, today there are powerful roles written for girls, girls are directing the film, they are going out and earning for themselves. Even for men, you don't have to be a very good-looking guy to get main or important parts. You can be a boy-next-door and become a hero.
Talking about the MeToo Movement which started in Bollywood and Rajkumar Hirani's name being dragged in it, she said,
¡°It is very difficult to prove sometimes. More often than, it is an old thing and after 10 or 15 years it gets very difficult to prove. Also, these things happen in private so there is no witness. You have to take the word. Somebody could be lying, it's difficult to gauge. But I feel because of this movement, a person will think 100 times before doing something. They will be scared to do something, this is one thing that the movement has definitely done.
"See there are lots of people who will take advantage of this movement, which is obvious, but one good thing is that this movement has created a fear in men that if they do anything wrong to a girl, she will raise her voice, instead of staying mum."
Recalling the days she faced all this harassment, Neena narrates, ¡°I lost lots of work because of this, but once I gathered the courage and spoke about it. I was very new and somebody told me a very bad thing which I couldn't tolerate. I was disgusted, he told me such dirty things in front of everyone because I was not giving it. I was very angry and I spoke about it in some of the magazines. It did not deter him, he again spoke bad about me. He was very powerful and I was nothing as I was very new, we continued fighting and it became very dirty. My friends advised me to stop. The told me that nobody will believe me, he is not getting affected, I will lose my respect because I was a nobody, so after that I said nothing. Afterwards, whenever something like this used to happen, I would leave the project, never go back on sets and dealt with it quietly.¡±
Looking at the view from her balcony and thinking out loud, she said, ¡°I wish I was younger at this time. I would have done so much, today's youngsters are so different, they are so much into their work. There is no hanky panky, it's a very different atmosphere with the youngsters.¡±
Badhai Ho actress' one wish that cannot be fulfilled is to do a film like Gone With The Wind as she is old, but her mantra is to move on, ¡°My life's mantra is to move on, I have always moved on, thik hai something bad happens, you cry, you drink, you shop, but eventually you have to move on¡±.
This woman is indeed one of a kind. We wish to see more and more of her on the big screen.