The British tabloid The Sun has published an article on Bollywood cinematography as well as behind the scenes art scenes in India. The Sun. has summarized all the happenings in Bollywood that a girl takes to become part of cinema, ranging from harassment, abuse, sexual assault, rape and even suicide. This article was made two days after the arrest of adult film actress Nandita Dutta, who had abused two young girls, promising them a career in Bollywood.
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Bollywood is often known for its bright colors and cheerful musical numbers – but behind it hides a dark hole of sexual assault and suicide.
Shocking reports have surfaced detailing the bad side of the und billion business, in which women have exploited them to make red-stamp films and abused them by promising them fame and fortune.
Based in Mumbai, Bollywood represents 43% of net cash income in India. With this in mind, millions of Indians each year try their luck at becoming a star in the lucrative industry and securing tremendous wealth. Some of Bollywood’s biggest stars earned millions of pounds in 2019 – the top winner was Akshay Kumar who earned milionë 29 million that year.
But unfortunately, the temptation of fame and money can lead aspiring artists to the most tragic and horrific circumstances. Some young actresses may find themselves thrown into the world of adult entertainment through false promises of a Bollywood career.
Numerous actresses have discovered the disturbing tendency of “lying in bed” as they try to participate in a movie or TV show. The strong pressures of ‘dreams of becoming a star’ have also illuminated a mental health crisis in Bollywood, especially after production was halted due to Covid.
Since the MeToo movement became global in 2018, allegations of sexual abuse have erupted within the film and television industry in India. Reflecting actors and models around the world, Indian women came out on their social media platforms to call their abusers for the attacks. And in October of that year actress Tanushree Dutta became one of the first public figures to go public with a confession of sexual abuse.
This led to a wave of women in Bollywood and the entertainment industry as a whole speaking out against men who allegedly abused them. On May 31 last year, nine high-profile Bollywood players were accused of raping and harassing a model in Mumbai. The model filed the complaint on May 18 accusing police in an Indian media of inaction as none of the accused was questioned.
She told Mid-Day: Police have registered an FIR after so many days of submitting my letter of complaint against high profile people, but none of them have been arrested yet.
The model claimed the attacks took place during seven torturous years from 2012 to 2019. In an Instagram post, the model described how the photograph physically and emotionally abused her during a work assignment. Since her accusations, the model has claimed that she has received death threats on social media from numerous fake accounts.
Prachi Desai previously revealed that she was offered to make a “big movie” – only for one of the filmmakers to then try to put pressure on her to have sex.
She told Bollywood Bubble: I think very direct proposals were made to deal with a certain film, a great film, but I have said completely no. TV star Ankita Lokhande also claimed that she was told to “sleep with the producer” when she approached him for a movie.
Men are also not immune to the culture of “going to bed”, with actor Ayushmaan Khurana revealing that a cast director told him: I will give you the lead role if you show me your tool. Meanwhile, yesterday adult movie star Nandita Dutta was charged by police after allegedly seducing two young women into pornography by falsely promising them a move to Bollywood. The models accused Dutta of forcing them to undress in front of the camera in Calcutta.
One claims she was forced to appear in a video to grow up in a hotel in New Town, while the other claims she was forced to attend a nude shoot in a studio in Ballygunge. Both said they were told their acting career would start if they participated. Her accomplice Mainak Ghosh, 39, was also arrested in Naktala for his involvement in the alleged coercion of the actresses.
Police are investigating a similar case involving the husband of Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, who is accused of creating and distributing illegal X-rated films. The businessman was arrested after he allegedly seduced a woman to make an X-rated film with the promise of an acting job.
His wife, Shetty, has denied any involvement in the alleged crimes, but faced questioning the day the altercation between them began. She told police she was unaware of the exact nature of the content on the phone, describing it as erotic and not pornographic.
But after officers seized 48 terabytes of images and videos from the Bollywood star’s home during a search Friday, officers are now looking to clone her phone and may also take her for a second round of questioning.
Mental health is a theme that is not portrayed so often in successful Bollywood movies. The death of Bollywood star Sushant Singh Rajput last June brought to light the hardships encountered within the film industry. During the Covid-19 pandemic last year, artists were left crippled by lack of opportunities within their industries as the world closed.
Pressure to succeed hit the stars during 2020, and 12 A-list actors are said to have committed suicide. Bollywood actor Madhavan told Gulf News that the film industry has minimized the negative impact released by the Covid-19 pandemic.
With movies on hold and theaters closed, Bollywood lost millions forcing actors to rest.
“Even for someone like me who has been blessed with the best in life, it was not easy to have liquidity for six to seven months to run our lives. “Payments stop for just one day and it was extremely unexpected,” Madhavan said.
Dubai-based psychiatrist Dr Sweta Shah told Gulf News that actors need to be offered better support to deal with the amount of rejection they face.
“Rejection, failure and abuse do not happen to us civilians every day. We are not judged by one or two failures in our lives and we are constantly reminded of this. But the same indicator does not apply to public figures. An actor should have a higher rejection threshold and ability to cope better and stress management skills,She said.
