Elnaaz Norouzi Opens Up About MeToo Allegations Against Vipul Shah, Says She Was Frightened That It would Hamper Her Career

When the MeToo movement had started in India, women came out in the open and shared their experience of sexual harassment. Women from all fields seem to have faced harassment in some form or the other. The number of incidents in the film industry had been many. Elnaz Norouzi had been one of them. She had leveled allegations against Vipul Amrutlal Shah and had shared her story. However, after that, she has been pretty much silent about it. Now, she has opened up about it again.

In a recent interview with TOI, she was asked why she had gone silent about it afterwards. Elnaaz said, “There’s obviously not much to speak about anymore. But for me what was important was that when the movement started, and when I saw a platform to speak about what I had gone through, I took it. For me, all that was important was that I speak about it and that people know about it, that's it. If I wanted to take any kind of action, I could have taken it before or after, or I can take it in 10 years also. This is because after the emotional distress somebody puts you through, you can’t be asked as to why didn’t you speak earlier, and why you’re telling it now. We're humans, we go through different kinds of phases, and then we take a call. But for me, it was just important that I support the other women who are speaking up, and that I just let it out there and let people know what kind of a person I have dealt with. Now, for me, as a person, that was enough. I didn't need to go and file a police complaint; I didn't need to do all of that. For me, it was just enough to speak about it and to let the world know. The respected people who were spoken about also know, and now (they) know how to behave better. So, that movement alone was enough for a lot of change to happen. Sometimes all that is needed is just to speak about something and let it be. You don't have to stretch it. I don’t want to stretch the matter further.”

She also revealed that she had feared that it would hamper her career, but also added that because everyone spoke up, the industry has changed for better. She said, “See, you always have that thought that in life, whenever you speak about something critical, that it might hamper your career, or your personal life. But be it in terms of my career, or personal life, I live fearlessly. If you're scared of something, you won't overcome or succeed. At that moment, I thought about who is Elnaaz? Elnaaz is somebody who would like to support other women in such a big movement. Because if only one woman has spoken had spoken up, and nobody else because they were scared, then the movement would not have happened, right? All the other women came in support and shared their stories and that has changed the world. Now, it has changed for the better.”

Well, it takes guts to talk about something so big and kudos to Elnaaz that she was able to do it.