Raveena Tandon On Workplace Harassment : There Was An Entire Camp That Was Against Women

Former Bollywood actress Tanushree Dutta accusing actor Nana Patekar of sexual harassment, ignited the #MeToo movement in India. In the wake of the movement, popular names from Bollywood have also been named as sexual perpetrators. 

Bollywood actress Raveena Tandon has been a strong supporter of the movement.  The 43-year-old actor said she has never been a victim of sexual harassment but has been through “professional harassment” in the film industry and hence understands the trauma. “I was never sexually harassed as I was not the one to just take it. I would give it back. But I can imagine the trauma that the young girls go through. It is so sad and disheartening to hear these stories. It angers me.

“I have been through professional harassment. I did lose out on couple of films. There were few women journalists, who would tarnish our reputation in their magazines or newspapers. Like, from being called a liar to delusional liar, etc. They helped the heroes,” Raveena told PTI.

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Raveena Tandon was one of the most popular faces of teh 80s and the 90s, having done some good movies. Talking about her harassment experience, the actor said it was a disturbing phase as her reputation was maligned. “They work in tandem to ruin an actress’s life,” she added, without taking any names.

In a cryptic tweet, recently, Raveena had said, “What defines harassment in a workplace? The fact that many industry wives and girlfriends are silent observers or instigators, when actor husbands destroy the careers of actresses after the chase and flirtation is over or have them replaced with other potential targets.” When asked about the same, the National Award-winning actor, said, “Sometimes it is women also who are complacent because of insecurity or professional jealousy and have got other actresses removed from a project using their hero boyfriend or husband. And this is not fair.

“It might not be sexual harassment but it is professional harassment. The clauses in the contracts need to be strong. If certain people have problem working with the actress then they should step away. Why ruin the girl’s career?”

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The actress revealed that whenever, female actors would raise issues that they had on the sets of a film, they would be branded as trouble makers. She also said that there was an entire camp that was against women. 

“I believe innocent until proven guilty. After the investigations are carried out, if the person is found guilty, then there also has to be legal action against them,” she said. The actress said that she is happy that women today are being heard and is hopeful that the moment will bring the much-needed change in gender dynamics. Last week, Cine and TV Artists Association (CINTAA) said, they will be setting up an advisory committee to deal with sexual harassment in the industry, which will have actors Swara Bhasker and Raveena among others as members.

(With inputs from PTI)