MUMBAI – Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor has said in India there is a lot ofshame attached in speaking up about facing harassment.
“Unfortunately in India, there’s a lot of shame attached to it. Ifsomething happens to you, you just smile and pretend to be dumb,” the actorresponded when asked whether something close to #MeToo and #TimesUpcampaigns is happening in India.
“You just ignore it, pretend it didn’t happen because if you speak aboutit, you will get into more trouble. You are conditioned to think that way.It becomes a blemish on you,” she added while speaking to the *IndianExpresslink>*.
Recalling the time when she spoke up about being molested, the actor said,“I remember when I spoke about what happened to me when I had gone to atheatre to watch a Raveena Tandon film. A man came behind me and molestedme. And people said that’s not molestation. This is harassment.”
She continued, “And somebody from my team said that why are you speakingabout this, your movie is coming out.”
Highlight the double standards in the country, Sonam said, “It’s shocking.Such a contradiction in our country. You want to watch songs where womenare gyrating to lyrics which are so suggestive, and at the same timewearing salwar kameez and doing puja.
Lamenting that she does not see a shift in attitude any time soon, sheadded, “We are hard pressed for stories, for roles. There is no equal pay.And I am not even talking about actresses.”
Stating that “people hold these perceived notions about women,” Sonam said,“I was talking to someone, this person asked for my help. He said I amtrying to hire a person — there are two people, a guy, and a girl, who isjust married. She is better but she may get pregnant. And she won’t be ableto work properly. This is how we still think.”