{"id":2461,"date":"2016-07-23T04:57:28","date_gmt":"2016-07-22T23:27:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2461"},"modified":"2016-07-23T04:57:28","modified_gmt":"2016-07-22T23:27:28","slug":"saroj-khan-casting-couch-sexual-harassment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2461","title":{"rendered":"Step Up, Saroj Khan: Stop Defending Bollywood\u2019s Dirty Dancing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I<\/span><\/p><\/div>

n this month alone, we\u2019ve been witness to two polarising retaliations to one plaguing virus in the <\/span>film industry<\/span><\/a>: the dreaded C-word. <\/span>Casting couch<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>\n\nTwo weeks ago, actress <\/span>Sri Reddy <\/span><\/a>staged a semi-nude protest in front of the Movie Artistes Association (MAA) office in <\/span>Hyderabad<\/span><\/a>, alleging that young actresses were sexually exploited routinely by the casting couch prevalent in the Telugu film industry. \u00a0Reddy claimed that she was denied a MAA membership because of how vocal she had been about this malpractice. Reddy acknowledged the controversial point that she had actually \u201ccompromised\u201d with directors, producers, and male actors in the industry \u2013 and she had <\/span>still<\/span><\/i> been denied roles.<\/span>\n\nIn typical fashion, everyone criticised Reddy \u2013 her unconventional method, as well as the fact that she had tried to play it the way the industry expected of her. And in the din, the overriding point about <\/span>Indian cinema\u2019s <\/span><\/a>problematic, predatory work culture was swiftly forgotten. <\/span>\n\nUntil this morning, that is. <\/span>\n\nThree-time National Award-winner and arguably <\/span>Bollywood\u2019s<\/span><\/a> most respected choreographer, Saroj Khan, addressed a press conference defending the casting couch. In her own words, Khan claimed that the casting couch is \u201cage-old.\u201d She went as far as saying that \u201ccasting couch provides livelihood. Taking advantage of a girl is done with her <\/span>consent<\/span><\/a>.\u201d What a magical, helpful couch! She further alleged that the practice wasn\u2019t in the least exploitative, because at least it provides actors with work, instead of \u201craping and abandoning.\u201d Ironically, Khan\u2019s tone-deaf statements were a response to a question about Sri Reddy\u2019s strip-protest.<\/span>\n\nEven though Khan soon apologised for her chest-beating glorification of the casting couch that is powerful enough to dictate the careers of innumerable actresses, the damage was done. Her remarks came as an insult at a time when more and more actresses are choosing to openly talk about the systematic harassment meted out to them in their workplace, and challenging its acceptance as a rite of passage. <\/span>\n\n

Saroj Khan’s argument that artists have a choice not to work with people who\u2019ve asked for \u201csexual favours\u201d, is as misplaced as it is distasteful.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nJust last month, veteran actress <\/span>Daisy Irani\u2019s <\/span><\/a>horrific revelation about being raped at the age of six, threw a light on the dark side of the industry. Around the same time, Radhika Apte \u2013 who in the past has admitted to being propositioned for roles \u2013 spoke about an unpleasant experience on the sets of a Tamil film on a chat show. Recounting the incident, Apte revealed how she slapped a famous actor who deemed it perfectly acceptable to tickle her feet on the first day of the shoot. <\/span>\n\nSwara Bhaskar<\/span><\/a>, Kalki Koechlin, and <\/span>Richa Chadda<\/span><\/a> have gone on record umpteen times emphasising the reasons actresses refrain from naming and shaming perpetrators despite being victims of casting-couch culture. In the past, we\u2019ve written about why Bollywood will never have its <\/span>#MeToo<\/span><\/a> moment: Because speaking out against rampant sexual harassment in the industry is to risk film offers drying up and being slut-shamed. Just take a look at the responses from within the industry. Spoiler alert: There were none. \u00a0<\/span>\n\nIn defending the casting couch then, Khan\u2019s comments (<\/span>\u201cTumhare paas art hai toh tum kyun bechoge apne aap ko?\u201d) do a disservice to their courage by squarely resting the blame with victims. Her argument that artists have a choice not to work with people who\u2019ve asked for \u201csexual favours\u201d, is as misplaced as it is distasteful. Besides gloriously missing the point, Khan\u2019s statements also singlehandedly puts the film industry light years behind in ensuring that it can also be a safe workplace for actresses.<\/span>\n\nBut most importantly, her comments are also emblematic of a reality where the veteran stakeholders of the film industry (Khan herself has been in the industry for over 40 years, choreographing a whopping 2,000 songs) are clueless about what constitutes \u201charassment\u201d and <\/span>\u201cconsent\u201d<\/span><\/a>. In embracing the casting couch as the messiah of the film industry and disguising coercion as consent, Khan normalises the conditioning that pits abuse as a necessary exchange for a successful career. Moreover, by promptly blaming actresses for giving in to the perils of the casting couch, Khan also disregards layers of twisted power dynamics that guarantee that these actresses can never be on the same footing as their predators. <\/span>\n\nThe most damning and disheartening part of the exchange is how little support there is for actresses who take the casting couch head-on. The very people who ought to be the guardians the industry \u2013 people like Khan \u2013 are only interested in burying their heads in the sand. <\/span>\n\nHere\u2019s a song you can choreograph, Saroj Khan: \u201cEk do teen, I defend the casting couch like a queen.\u201d<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three-time National Award-winner and arguably Bollywood\u2019s most respected choreographer, Saroj Khan defended the casting couch today. In doing so, she singlehandedly put the film industry light years behind in ensuring that it can also be a safe workplace for actresses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":2462,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3114],"tags":[141,4855,5013,5014,1615,4322,5015,803,4857,1566],"class_list":["post-2461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bollywood","tag-bollywood","tag-casting-couch","tag-female-actresses","tag-kalki-koechlin","tag-rape","tag-richa-chadda","tag-saroj-khan","tag-sexual-harassment","tag-sri-reddy","tag-swara-bhaskar"],"yoast_head":"\nStep Up, Saroj Khan: Stop Defending Bollywood\u2019s Dirty Dancing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Three-time National Award-winner and arguably Bollywood\u2019s most respected choreographer, Saroj Khan defended the casting couch today. In doing so, she singlehandedly put the film industry light years behind in ensuring that it can also be a safe workplace for actresses.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2461\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Step Up, Saroj Khan: Stop Defending Bollywood\u2019s Dirty Dancing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Three-time National Award-winner and arguably Bollywood\u2019s most respected choreographer, Saroj Khan defended the casting couch today. 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