Did #MeToo movement change anything in Bollywood in 2018?

It was in October that former model and actor, Tanushree Dutta, accused her co-star and veteran actor Nana Patekar of sexual harassment while the two were shooting for a film called Horn Ok Please, in 2008. Tanushree Dutta was the first one to speak up about the sexual misconduct that she encountered in the industry. This not only sparked off debate but also ignited change. In the aftermath, many women came forward and publicly shared their harrowing stories as well. Though, nobody spoke up expecting retribution or justice, they just wanted the world to know what they had been through.Multiple A-list actors such as Farhan Akhtar, Priyanka Chopra, Sonam Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and filmmaker Karan Johar (among others) lent support to the #MeToo movement. Even as it hasn’t been too long since the movement reached Bollywood, the question that everyone seems to be asking is ‘has anything changed’? The answer is neither a yes nor a no, but measures have been taken to curb the issue. Various associations within the industry have sent out clear signals that allegations of sexual harassment, if reported to them, will not be brushed under the carpet. The Producers Guild of India (PGI), the Screen Writers Association (SWA), IFTDA (Indian Film and Television Director’s Association) and the Cine & TV Artists Association (CINTAA) - all have taken steps in the right direction and have set up committees to probe allegations of sexual harassment.All PGI members have also been asked to implement India’s Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, which supersedes the Vishakha guidelines that are more relevant to a traditional office set-up.Some strict actions were taken against perpetrators as well. Filmmaker Sajid Khan has been suspended from IFTDA for a year and he also stepped down from his directorial post of the film Houseful 4.After director Subhash Kapoor was accused of the same, Aamir Khan walked out of Mogul and for now the film is on the back-burner. Music composer Anu Malik was taken off the jury panel of Indian Idol after having served as a judge on the show for nine seasons. Apart from that, casting director Mukesh Chhabra was suspended by Fox Star that was supposed to finance his directorial debut. Moreover, a note on social media was signed by 11 prominent female filmmakers in which they collectively said that they wouldn’t work with proven offenders, urging others to do so as well. What has changed is that people are now wary of working with predators. People are getting educated, and men are trying to understand what’s changed and that in itself is the beginning of a slow and long process of establishing what is and isn’t acceptable behavior. Stories are coming out that women not being given opportunities because they are being seen as liabilities and potential risks in a male dominated industry. On the flip-side, there are directors and production houses that are actively looking to improve their ratio of women employees, across departments. Even if some are doing this to establish their ‘woke’ status, it’s a foot in the door. For now that matters a great deal since change of once-accepted norms is no longer acceptable. – With information from The Quint.com 

from The News International - Instep Today http://bit.ly/2GZf4Nl