Dear Shenaz,
I had to Google up to see who you are, and then I recalled you worked in a film called Delhi Belly which had a song called Bhag Bhag Bhosdike..hope you knew the meaning of “Bhosdike” before you signed for the film..this slang is against woman , hope you knew that ? ….and yes I recalled that extra ordinarily erotic scene of yours in that film because of which and other such extremely derogatory abuses the film was given an A certificate and you all fought against that decision….Anyways…
Your letter literally moved me despite me being aware that you have a
movie to be released in next few weeks, despite me being aware that
celebs like you only wake up for social causes when you have a selfish
interest to promote.Despite me wondering how this letter of yours reached to 20 websites together in one go ?
Despite me being aware that celebs like you charge fee for appearing
even at charity shows.!! So this sudden awakening of yours was little
surprising…. anyways…..
Shenaz, I wholeheartedly support your demand of very strong laws against such crimes , but have you read Nirbhaya Law even once ? Do you even know how stringent it is ? Still agree with you that there is huge scope of improvement and government must ensure things improve from their end. But if NAMO only could change everything , he would have that changed on16th May itself. By any chance, do we see our individual role in fighting this evil ? Rather do we even acknowledge that this evil is beyond law and order ? If not, do we expect our streets to be deployed with policemen all over just to keep a vigil on each and every girl and boy roaming around ? You said you were groped multiple times (I am sorry about that) but how does law and order take care of it unless you complain ? A girl dates a stranger boy, goes to his apartment, gets raped by boy and his friends , how do you see it as a law and order problem ? (Mumbai Police commissioner on record said 75% cases are such in which girl knew the boy) Or like other liberals , you too believe that deploying a full battalion in front of each and every pub in the city would solve all the problem ? Having said that, I have no intentions to make this writeup some kind of a patriarchal advisory for woman, as what to wear, where to go, what time to go etc..
Thus, for few minutes if you are ready to believe this issue is beyond law and order, let me take you to the other side of the story….
An XYX deo brand would claim , use me and get a woman , an underwear company would claim , wear me and get a woman , a condom company would claim , wear me and get a woman, you watch any movie the only role of an actress would be to please the actor and the audience …nothing else..this literal objectification of woman is hundred times uglier than what “manusmriti” did thousands of years back. So when day and night everyone everywhere is talking about “getting a woman” , how would you control a sick guy“getting” a lonely woman in a train compartment on his own ? forcefully this time though. Have you celebs ever sat ( at least over a cocktail party ) and discussed what effect your Ads , your movies have on society ?
Did you ever raise your voice against producers signing Sunny leone one after the other as lead actress , ever objected as to what her eligibility is as an artist ? Have you celebs discussed such issues with Ad makers who present women as mere sexual target ? Have you raised your voice when a script writer portrays a woman as an “object” ? You know what…you guys create such frustrated assholes in society gradually ...you guys act as a slow poison in society because the same people look upon you, they follow you blindly, they believe you, they ape you to whatever you show on the screen !!
I am not saying just films or just ads or just porn or just parenthood is responsible for rapes or sexual assault on woman ,but all such topics are contributors in different forms and proportions to the making of a rapist. Those developed liberal societies who decades back resisted against banning of sexually explicit content , who did not oppose objectification of woman in the name of free and liberal society are heavily suffering now and will continue to suffer , India has just started to suffer and it will suffer badly because it is a heterogeneous society , because our family upbringing varies drastically depending upon which part of a society we are in and hence our reaction to different situations also differ.Thus, as a typical sexual content affects different age groups differently,it also affects different people from different backgrounds differently. Take out testimonies of rapists,most of them said they used to watch porn on mobile and could not control afterwards. Till how long we would bury our heads in sand and not acknowledge this fact ?
Shenaz, Lastly, If you were even one percent sincere in writing this letter, would you consider pledging that –
1. You would not do any film or Ad or show which objectify woman or portray them in bad light.
2. You would boycott perfumes / Deos / Under Garments brands and other such products which purposely bring lust in their themes and present woman as a sexual target ?
3. Make and promote clean films enriched with values of morality and respect for woman . And yes, rather than love/hate/sex stories , promote films based on science (oops …films based on science is difficult from you folks..so please ignore )
The expectation of zero tolerance from law makers is all OK , but bring that “zero tolerance” in yourself against any form of insult to womanhood. Hope I did not ask too much. By the way, good luck for your upcoming movie as apart from the usual law and order rant , that is the only take away I get from your letter….!!
I had to Google up to see who you are, and then I recalled you worked in a film called Delhi Belly which had a song called Bhag Bhag Bhosdike..hope you knew the meaning of “Bhosdike” before you signed for the film..this slang is against woman , hope you knew that ? ….and yes I recalled that extra ordinarily erotic scene of yours in that film because of which and other such extremely derogatory abuses the film was given an A certificate and you all fought against that decision….Anyways…
Shenaz, I wholeheartedly support your demand of very strong laws against such crimes , but have you read Nirbhaya Law even once ? Do you even know how stringent it is ? Still agree with you that there is huge scope of improvement and government must ensure things improve from their end. But if NAMO only could change everything , he would have that changed on16th May itself. By any chance, do we see our individual role in fighting this evil ? Rather do we even acknowledge that this evil is beyond law and order ? If not, do we expect our streets to be deployed with policemen all over just to keep a vigil on each and every girl and boy roaming around ? You said you were groped multiple times (I am sorry about that) but how does law and order take care of it unless you complain ? A girl dates a stranger boy, goes to his apartment, gets raped by boy and his friends , how do you see it as a law and order problem ? (Mumbai Police commissioner on record said 75% cases are such in which girl knew the boy) Or like other liberals , you too believe that deploying a full battalion in front of each and every pub in the city would solve all the problem ? Having said that, I have no intentions to make this writeup some kind of a patriarchal advisory for woman, as what to wear, where to go, what time to go etc..
Thus, for few minutes if you are ready to believe this issue is beyond law and order, let me take you to the other side of the story….
An XYX deo brand would claim , use me and get a woman , an underwear company would claim , wear me and get a woman , a condom company would claim , wear me and get a woman, you watch any movie the only role of an actress would be to please the actor and the audience …nothing else..this literal objectification of woman is hundred times uglier than what “manusmriti” did thousands of years back. So when day and night everyone everywhere is talking about “getting a woman” , how would you control a sick guy“getting” a lonely woman in a train compartment on his own ? forcefully this time though. Have you celebs ever sat ( at least over a cocktail party ) and discussed what effect your Ads , your movies have on society ?
Did you ever raise your voice against producers signing Sunny leone one after the other as lead actress , ever objected as to what her eligibility is as an artist ? Have you celebs discussed such issues with Ad makers who present women as mere sexual target ? Have you raised your voice when a script writer portrays a woman as an “object” ? You know what…you guys create such frustrated assholes in society gradually ...you guys act as a slow poison in society because the same people look upon you, they follow you blindly, they believe you, they ape you to whatever you show on the screen !!
I am not saying just films or just ads or just porn or just parenthood is responsible for rapes or sexual assault on woman ,but all such topics are contributors in different forms and proportions to the making of a rapist. Those developed liberal societies who decades back resisted against banning of sexually explicit content , who did not oppose objectification of woman in the name of free and liberal society are heavily suffering now and will continue to suffer , India has just started to suffer and it will suffer badly because it is a heterogeneous society , because our family upbringing varies drastically depending upon which part of a society we are in and hence our reaction to different situations also differ.Thus, as a typical sexual content affects different age groups differently,it also affects different people from different backgrounds differently. Take out testimonies of rapists,most of them said they used to watch porn on mobile and could not control afterwards. Till how long we would bury our heads in sand and not acknowledge this fact ?
1. You would not do any film or Ad or show which objectify woman or portray them in bad light.
2. You would boycott perfumes / Deos / Under Garments brands and other such products which purposely bring lust in their themes and present woman as a sexual target ?
3. Make and promote clean films enriched with values of morality and respect for woman . And yes, rather than love/hate/sex stories , promote films based on science (oops …films based on science is difficult from you folks..so please ignore )
The expectation of zero tolerance from law makers is all OK , but bring that “zero tolerance” in yourself against any form of insult to womanhood. Hope I did not ask too much. By the way, good luck for your upcoming movie as apart from the usual law and order rant , that is the only take away I get from your letter….!!
