Radhika Apte, Usha Jadhav break their silence on sexual harassment in film industry

New Delhi: Bollywood's talented find Radhika Apte and Marathi top notch actress Usha Jadhav have recently opened up on the sexual harassment instances they faced in the film industry. The actresses talked about the existence of casting couch and shared their own experiences in BBC's soon-to-be-aired documentary titled Bollywood's Dark Secret.

Mid-day.com quoted the actresses opening up in the documentary about how they too faced a #MeToo moment while working in the film industry. The documentary which will be telecast this weekend has got Radhika breaking her silence and addressing why women remain mum and not talk about it openly.

The report quoted her saying, “Some people are regarded as Gods. They are so powerful that people just don't think that my voice is going to matter, or people think that if I speak, probably my career is going to get ruined.”

Usha, on the other hand, shared her harrowing experience where she was blatantly asked to compromise for a role. She has been quoted as saying, “I said something on the lines of, 'What? I don't have money'. He said, 'No, no, no, no. It's not about money, it's about you sleeping with, maybe it can be a producer, maybe it can be a director, it can be both too.”

The documentary also features other actresses sharing their sexual harassment experiences in the showbiz world.

Recently, ace choreographer Saroj Khan sparked a controversy by defending casting couch in Bollywood. ANI quoted the choreographer as saying: "Yeh chala aa raha hai Baba azam ke zamaane se. Har ladki ke upar koi na koi haath saaf karne ki koshish karta hai. Govt ke log bhi karte hain. Tum film industry ke peeche kyun pade ho? Woh kam se kam roti toh deti hai. Rape karke chhod toh nahi deti.”

"Yeh ladki ke upar hai ki tum kya karna chahti ho. Tum uske haath mein nahi aana chahti ho toh nahi aaogi. Tumhare paas art hai toh tum kyun bechoge apne aap ko? Film industry ko kuch mat kehna, woh humaara mai-baap hai.”

However, several celebs slammed the veteran choreographer for making such a statement. Later, she apologised for making the remark. "Whatever the question, you don't know... You just know my answer. So it is sounding wrong. But anyhow, I am sorry. I apologise," Saroj Khan told IANS.

Not just Bollywood, this year the West too saw a movement where several celebrities opened up on facing sexual harassment at workplace. The infamous Harvey Weinstein scandal was just a tip-off to what resulted in the widespread #MeToo movement on social media.

#MeToo campaign eclipsed the Academy Awards this year. It started as a movement against sexual harassment and assault. The hashtag was used on social media to help demonstrate the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment, especially in the workplace.