Dear Rani Mukerji, Your Flawed Take On #Metoo Is The Epitome Of Privilege And Ignorance

Let me start by saying that as a massive Bollywood buff, you have been an inspiration and nothing has ever stopped me from respecting you for your stellar performances or bold choices in life.

Apart from being an actress par excellence, you have also been fortunate enough to understand the nitty-gritty of filmmaking and the Hindi film industry by virtue of being a daughter of a filmmaker and the wife of probably one of the most influential and talented filmmakers of our generation. Couple that with the body of experience you have yourself had, one would expect you to be familiar with every heartbeat of this industry.

But seeing you celebrating the wonderful year we have had in Hindi film industry, especially for women in the business with the most talented actresses of our time and airing opinions that seem totally frivolous and ignorant was the shocker of a lifetime.

The discussion this year surely could not be completed, especially with the actresses in the business, without bringing up the #metoo movement. With your ignorant take on the matter, you collectively took down what several courageous women tried to achieve at the cost of re-living their personal trauma.

By saying, that ‘if women don’t want this to happen, it will not happen’ are you indirectly implying that the ones who faced harassment asked for it? Do you really think that the onus to be safe is on the woman? Why is it about what women have to do be safe and not about the changes that the perpetrators need to make to not harass a woman?

Shielded in privileges, you might take the way of giving a man ‘a jhapad of his lifetime’ and not bear any consequences, but guess what not everyone in the industry belongs to an established film family and is married to the head of one of the biggest studios in the business. You can literally put an end to your acting career right now and still live a life of luxury until the last days of your life, but there are many who do not have that option. Also, that whole rant about making martial arts mandatory in schools in order to ensure the safety of women just sounds pathetically ignorant. Might we also add what Deepika said about not all women being wired that way? Or are you suggesting that women who cannot ‘kick men between his legs’ should suffer anyway?

To put it simply, the whole movement was not about how survivors should protect their ‘izzat’ but about perpetrators not engaging is such advancements. Literally, it is that simple. Survivors do not need to become combat ninjas but perpetrators need to become humans.

Being a star who has worked in the industry for a substantially long amount of time, you, unfortunately, have a responsibility to have opinions that are slightly informed and sensitized. We already have too many people trying to brush this whole movement under the carpet. If you cannot be an activist then don’t be, it is not really your prerogative and headache, but please do not present people with more ammunition to quell the whole movement or make a laughing stock of the whole thing.