We’ll Lose a Lot of Heroes: Richa on Sexual Harassment in B’Wood

The actor talks about the possibility of the Weinstein effect in B-town.

Richa Chadha will write a book about her journey. 

(Photo Coutesy: Richa Chadha)

Power structures in the entertainment industry in the West have undergone a tectonic shift in 2017. Starting with Harvey Weinstein, celebrities like Kevin Spacey and Louis CK have seen their careers disappear overnight after allegations of inappropriate behaviour and sexual harassment by several women and men surfaced - something unimaginable even a year back.

But nothing of that sort has happened in Bollywood. While celebs and other industry members have been brushing it off as being non-existent in the Hindi film industry - ha ha - actor Richa Chadha begs to differ. The actor opened up on the issue in an interview to Hindustan Times.

“I don’t see that (the Weinstein effect) 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.”

Richa Chadha, Actor

She is quite forthright in her statement that many of the industry’s leading men would lose their legacies once this revolution comes to India.

“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.” 

Richa added that it’s easier for actors in Hollywood to speak up because they get royalties. In India, actors would lose their livelihood.

However, she was quick to point out that the problem is by no means limited to the entertainment industry.

(Source: Hindustan Times)