The #MeToo movement was one of the biggest highlights of Bollywood last year. It had bought to light many incidents and assault stories that women had kept quiet for years together. In the last few months of 2018, actors and other celebrities from the film industry have come forward to talk about the same and take a stand. Recently, actresses including Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, Anushka Sharma, Tabu, Rani Mukerji and Taapsee Pannu were asked about the wave #MeToo had caused in Bollywood. And while everyone chipped in their take on the subject, Rani had something different to say.
She said,
I would like to take this platform to say something which I have lived with in this industry for so many years. I think, as a woman, you have to be powerful within yourself. You have to believe that you are so powerful that if you ever come into a situation like that, you have the courage to say back off, I think everything relates to what you want out of your lives.
She further added,
I think it is important for women to believe in themselves and say that if they don’t want it to happen, it will not happen.
While Deepika interjected that not every woman may be made that way, Rani had a simple solution.
Those are the women we need to talk to and tell them, you guys need to change. In life, we cannot depend on how the other person will behave with us. We have to take responsibility for our own selves.
Rani also gives suggestions on how women can deal with such a situation if it ever happens to them.
If they are ever in a situation like that, then they should make sure that the man suffers right there and then…kick him between his legs or give him a jhappar.
While what Rani said may have come from a good place, she received a lot of flak for her words ever since the interview was released. She certainly seems like someone speaking from a privileged position. The actress expressed her views on Rajeev Masand’s Actress’s Round Table.
You can check out the full discussion here:
What did you think of Rani’s views on the subject?