Following the Tanushree Dutta row, CINTAA (Cine and TV Artistes’ Association) had issued an apology for not taking action post her complaint against Nana Patekar in 2008. The current General Secretary, Sushant Singh, said that he was deeply embarrassed by it and that such a thing would not be repeated again. CINTAA exists as a body to protect actors and safeguard their rights, it has been actively taking interest in the cases of that have been surfacing within the film industry following the Me Too stories that have been coming out.
Sushant reveals that the average number of cases relating to sexual harassment that come to CINTAA every year are quite low. In the last three years, according Sushant, about six cases were registered with CINTAA.
Sushant Singh took us through three such cases and how CINTAA dealt with them:
1. Sexual Harassment
CASE 1: This case was between two members (actors) of the association, wherein the male member was accused of sexual harassment.
“Since both are our members it would be a conflict of interest because whose side could we take? So we advised our female member to file an FIR against him. She did so and then the actor was arrested and later got bail.”Sushant Singh, CINTAA General Secretary
The police didn’t find enough substance and so a charge sheet was not filed, so the case didn’t reach the court. Both parties settled the case mutually.
2. Objectionable Scenes Filmed
CASE 2: The second allegation came from a new actor. There was a lot of familial pressure and they weren’t allowing her to act. Finally, after the family relented and she got a small role in a film, she proceeded to shoot for it. It was an outdoor shoot, and her role was that of a housekeeper, and the role of the owner was that of a lecherous man so those kind of shots were to be taken. Being a newcomer, the female actor had never been on a set before and did not anticipate that. She was petrified and did protest but because it was an outdoor was asked by the producer to finish the shoot. When she came back, she approached CINTAA.
“She was crying when she came to us, because this had been a long cherished dream and her first experience turned out to be like this. The producers were then threatening her with legal action. We met them and found out what happened. Neither the producer was wrong nor was our member, it was a misunderstanding. Revealing scenes are fine as long as the actor consents to it. It wasn’t spelt out to her, but was said in our industry language. Generally, when you tell an actor that your role will be with a lecherous man you understand what kind of scenes will be involved, but because she was new she couldn’t read into that.”Sushant Singh, CINTAA General Secretary
CINTAA then made sure that the producer gave them a letter that he would delete the scenes she had an objection to and the raw footage as well because sometimes they go up on pornographic sites. The member didn’t want to go to the police and the producer followed CINTAA’s instructions and deleted the content.
3. Verbal Abuse
CASE 3: A female actor on the sets of a television show was verbally abused by the director. She immediately complained to CINTAA and was asked by them to lodge a police complaint. The very next day the director was summoned to the police station and he had to apologise to the actor.
“We want people to know that we are very strict with every complaint that comes to us, and that any kind of abuse will not be tolerated.”Sushant Singh, CINTAA General Secretary
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