The Harvey Weinsteins of Bollywood
The recent Harvey Weinstein sexual assault allegations caught Hollywood by storm and has prompted for several well established actresses such as Angelina Jolie to rise up and speak out against other prominent members of Hollywood who too have engaged in forcing women to perform sexual acts in return for roles in films. However, this occurrence of sexual exploitation is not contained to just the Hollywood film industry; rather it is one that plagues many other film industries including: Bollywood.
Following the events with Weinstein, Bollywood too quickly came under fire for sexual assault and exploitation allegations and a relatively unspoken about, but widely known concept of a “casting couch.”
Unfortunately, the casting couch in Bollywood is nothing new. In fact, several famous, top grossing Bollywood actors such as Ranveer Singh have come forward to say that the casting couch “is a commonplace situation for strugglers.”
The issue is so common in Bollywood that there have even been several sting operations conducted on prominent actors and these have actually exposed these actors of engaging in asking for sexual favors in return for giving women roles in films. A sting operation that shocked the industry and fans of Bollywood alike was the one that exposed veteran actor, Shakti Kapoor. He has long been a noteworthy actor in Bollywood appearing in dozens of box office hit films. In the operation he was caught on tape misbehaving and touching a woman and offering her a role in a film in exchange for sex.
Former Miss World and noteworthy Bollywood and Hollywood actress, Priyanka Chopra even went as far to confirm that there is not one Harvey Weinstein, but many cases of prominent individuals in the global film industry that are responsible for sexual exploitation of women in the industry. She explained to Marie Claire Magazine that this act exists because “It’s just the power of a man trying to take away a woman’s power.” She argues that men assert their dominance and their stronghold in the industry by basing a woman’s career and potential for success on whether or not she will provide sexual favors in return to the men.
Unfortunately this concept of a male’s power over a woman through the use of sexuality and dominance is not just subject to the individuals in the film industry, but critics of Bollywood have even gone as far as to say that the films themselves beget sexual exploitation and abusive behavior.
Bollywood is often associated with romantic films featuring loving musical numbers between male and females leads; however, at the same time these films have an unsettling side to them as well. Stalking, relentlessness, and never taking no for an answer are common traits of male characters in Bollywood films. In many films there are always scenes of male characters harassing and following women around professing love and not taking no for an answer. Ultimately in the films the women give in. Some films even have gone as far to manipulate and force the women into forming relations with the men. In an early Shah Rukh Khan film, he threatens his woman of choice with suicide if she does not date him. In the scene he is seen pouring kerosene all over himself in front of the girl and threatens to light himself ablaze if she does not go on a date with him.
Films are often seen as a reflection of life and moviegoers often imitate what they see on screen. The abusive and patriarchal nature of these Bollywood films normalizes misogyny towards women and influences viewers to act in these ways.
All in all sexual exploitation is a serious crime and comes with pressing lifelong mental and emotional implications for those affected. The problem with sexual exploitation was that for a long time those impacted were afraid to speak out; however now in the advent of individuals finally gathering the courage to speak out against their perpetrators will hopefully spark the much needed conversation regarding this topic that can one day provide a solution and justice for those wrongfully exploited in this manner.
Edited by Maryam Elahi
