The ongoing #MeToo movement in Bollywood brought up big names from the entertainment industry. It started with Nana Patekar, and from Sajid Khan and Anu Malik to Nawazuddin Siddique now, a number of prominent personalities have come under the scanner.
Director and actor Nandita Das on Sunday attended the ongoing 24th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) where she talked about #MeToo movement. She said the movement was not just about the elitist but about women across the country who faced sexual abuse and harassment in day to day life.
She said more men should come up and support the movement. “This is not a man versus woman fight only. It is a fight against patriarchy. We also need men to be supportive of this kind of movement and not just women. Therefore we need to hear women out and not just make it an elitist thing and to remember that there are many women who are vulnerable all over our country who do not have the vocabulary of MeToo and do not use hashtags. They too are going through a lot of this kind of abuses that we all need to speak up about,” said Das.
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Nandita also talked about her latest film Manto, and the demand from some quarters to ban it. “Why do they want to ban a two-hour film? Why do they want to ban a book? Why do they want to stop someone from painting? If it (art) was not threatening, they would not have attacked it. The fact that it (art) is attacked constantly and freedom of expression is something that we keep fighting about means that art has a significant role to play,” she said.
It may be recalled that Nandita Das’s father Jatin Das, a celebrated artist, was also accused of sexual harassment by more than one woman. Speaking about it earlier, she had said she would continue to support Me Too “despite the disturbing allegations made against my father”.
Here’s her post.
READ MORE: #MeToo | They think it’s a controversy: Tanushree Dutta on Bollywood celebs being silent
India’s #MeToo movement gained momentum after actress Tanushree Dutta accused veteran actor Nana Patekar of sexual misconduct during a film Horn Ok Pleasss shoot