Hoping for a Harvey Weinstein kind of wave in Bollywood, Richa Chadda says she does not see it happening immediately, mainly because of the culture of victim-shaming.
“I don’t see that happening immediately given the culture of naming and shaming in our country. But when it happens, as it is happening in Hollywood right now, the entire power structure will change. People, who you see making feminist films and claiming to be progressive etc, they will all come tumbling down,” she says.
“We will lose a lot of heroes and several people will lose their lives’ work, their legacies. I think that’s what people will attack -- they can’t attack them monetarily so they will go after the legacies. And it will happen, I would think in the next four-five years,” she adds.
“If someone suffers the loss of livelihood apart from emotional trauma, why will they come forward? In Hollywood,it is easier as actors get royalty,” the actor explains why Bollywood has been quiet on the issue.
“It is very sexy to say, ‘Bollywood, ye gire hue log. They do this for work, they are just a cesspool for parties and all. We have a very fertile imagination when it comes to Bollywood. But we refuse to look at others. The press has a role in this - they should not be jumping on a hashtag.
The press should be consistently creating a support system for the victim to come forward to say ‘this happened to me and he did that’. The judiciary has a role. I once met a rapist who said ‘mereko to bus saat saal ki sazaa hogi and then I am back to a normal life’, no remorse whatsoever.”
