So the wave of MeToo has reached Bollywood as actresses and female journalists are opening up about their gruesome experiences of sexual harassment. It’s not been so long since Tanushree Dutta revealed about her co-star Nana Patekar harassing her on the sets of a film that now a female journalist also has accused a B-town celebrity who is the famous singer Kailash Kher.
The sad thing is that not many people expected Teri Deewani singer as a MeToo villain.
Kailash Kher Facing Accusation of Sexual Harassment
An Indian photojournalist Natasha Hemrajani wrote a long Twitter thread to tell how the singer Kailash Kher and former Big Boss contestant Zulfi Syed harassed her, reported Times of India.
According to the said Twitter thread, Natasha, while being on an assignment by Hindustan Times to interview Kailash Kher visited the singer at his residence with a female colleague, where he tried to touch her inappropriately. She later asked her colleague to share such an experience in the interview, but she refused to do so, saying that paper wouldn’t publish it.
(1)
My #MeToo has singer Kailesh Kher & model Zulfi Syed, from when I was a newly appointed young woman photographer at Hindustan Times in Bombay, 2006.
Tweeting this thread for all to draw strength & speak out
❤️@photowallah@shubhangisapien@TheRestlessQuil@AnooBhu@weeny— Natasha Hemrajani (@radiantbear) October 6, 2018
The Case of Zulfi Syed
Natasha also narrated the whole story of how the model and Big Boss contestant Zulfi Syed harassed her when she was covering an event on a cruise ship. She elaborated that it all began with a kiss which she didn’t decide to take further but Zulfi tried to force her, and she escaped his attempt by deceiving him.
(5)#MeToo
The near sexual assault episode with Zulfi Syed occurred on a cruise liner. A bunch of press photographers, journalists, models and people were invited on board overnight as a PR exercise. I was there with a woman colleague to shoot the entire event.— Natasha Hemrajani (@radiantbear) October 6, 2018
(7)#MeToo
At some point while looking at the rooms the models had been given to stay in, I ended up leaving my phone to charge in Zulfi's room. After dinner and some dancing, my colleague was sleepy and left. So did the other models and I was alone with Zulfi on the ship deck— Natasha Hemrajani (@radiantbear) October 6, 2018
(9)#MeToo
I entered the room and took my phone, it was by the bed. Zulfi shut the door & leaned against it. I asked him why he'd shut the door, he said we both knew I wasn't going anywhere and that I hadn't really come to his room for the phone. I said I'd only come for my phone— Natasha Hemrajani (@radiantbear) October 6, 2018
(10)#MeToo
I walked up to the door to leave. He was standing right there, he grabbed me as soon as I reached for the handle, shoving me against the door and forcibly kissing me. I struggled and said I didn't want this but he wouldn't stop. I realised I was extremely vulnerable.— Natasha Hemrajani (@radiantbear) October 6, 2018
(11)#MeToo
There was nobody outside in corridor, no one would hear me scream, he was physically overpowering me & wouldn't stop and I did not want to become a victim of sexual assault. I had to strategise to get away so I stopped fighting him off. Instead, I made myself hold him.— Natasha Hemrajani (@radiantbear) October 6, 2018
(12)#MeToo
I said hey okay, why don't we do this properly on the bed. He backed off smiling. As soon as there was a window of a gap in his hold on me I wrenched the door open and ran down the empty corridor with my heart racing, feeling any second I would be dragged back by him.— Natasha Hemrajani (@radiantbear) October 6, 2018
The journalist also talked about how she thought of sharing the same story via media, but her colleagues and other models didn’t encourage her because she was more likely to be blamed for inviting Zulfi’s attention towards her.
(13)#MeToo
I reached the room I shared with my colleague, banged on the door. She let me in, saw my panic, asked me what happened. I told her the whole story & also told her we should report it. She asked me-why did I have to go to his room alone? I repeated, we should report it.— Natasha Hemrajani (@radiantbear) October 6, 2018
MeToo Wave in Bollywood
The male-dominant Bollywood that already lacks stories depicting powerful female characters has finally got attention for how it shows respect towards the women workers. The Indian film industry of which Bollywood is the major part is already infamous for the gender pay gap which has emerged as one of the critical issues women in 2018 are facing.
Singer Kailash Kher and Nana Patekar are the big names of this industry. Shockingly, till now no big star including Khans and Kapoors have said much on the industry’s MeToo movement. It seems that what women go through on sets and how their fellow female actresses are treated is not such a big issue for them. But with the passage of time, when more women will come forward about their experiences, the society will need to review whether its respect towards women needs to go beyond ladies’ first rule or not.
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