Actresses speaking out against sexual assault in India | Unreported World

[Music] for millions of Indians this is the city of dreams Mumbai is the heart of Bollywood one of the biggest film industries in the world I'm with one of its female superstars Richard Chadha in the last six months alone she's been in three major movies today reaches in the studio of Munda Singh one of Hollywood's top celebrity photographers his password is a Bollywood Wall of Fame Richa is famous for playing assertive independent women [Music] after the photo shoot I join her at home oh wow it is your awards all these are for acting mm-hmm this is my first film that's me I am playing like a really dirty character here and this is also film that's gone on to be like a cult film everything I have today is because of these films and and these films changed cinema in India this year she's made headlines as one of the first Bollywood aliases to talk about sexual violence in India and in the film industry her next film will explore India's controversial rape laws most women I know have had unwelcome advances towards them it's not just common in the industry it's so common in Indian society yet even richer ones named the guilty man why has nobody named names here fewer people would want to cause them definitely definitely most definitely because they'll be blacklisted they'll be called difficult she's difficult to work with she's hysterical she makes an issue she's a feminazi when all these labels start coming up it gets more and more difficult for women to operate [Music] Misha says that sexual harassment and violence is the rite of passage with an average Indian girl and they have a lot of reasons not to speak out in Bollywood you could lose your career even for someone like richer but for the me to campaign to actually take ground people do need to come out and to name names and identify the predators [Music] [Music] but one actress has named names she's complained to the police about a casting director she alleges sexually assaulted and then threatened her aha will you have coffee Rena zany lives in a pet seat with her boyfriend she's a 26 year old theatre actress now trying to break into movies before that incident I was so bubbly so childish so you know so life always smiling and always happy but after that incident I'm so defensive now she tells me about five months ago she met with a well-known casting director Zohan talk or to discuss her role for a big movie when he tried to touch my thigh I covered my tie with my hand he removed my hand and he's like this this now then I realized that no this is by intention after touching me he was asking me how do you like my touch maybe he was thinking that I will hi I won't warp so I will do anything she says later he called warning her not to speak out bully no denying if you will share this incident with anyone it will be your loss the police are still investigating the incident the casting director denies all the allegations and told me he does not want to comment further [Music] today is Hindu New Year and the streets are filled with people celebrating I'm on my way back to meet winner since she made her complain some casting directors have stopped calling her but not all of them good I'm good it's so it's so colorful outside why aren't you out celebrate so today I have I have an audition so I just have to quickly you know it will be rhiness third edition this week how much makeup are you expected to work on edition they don't entertain us if we don't do makeup really yes even if you're acting this great doesn't matter looks first after acting really yes do you ever feel like you should change your looks in general so you have a better chance to get into films I'm an actress I can give my best I can give to the director what he wants this year the Indian film industry will make around 2000 films what competition to get a part is fierce especially if you've seen as difficult how do you feel you got one addition I'm not meaning anything right now but when I will face them the casting director and in the audition maybe then that time I got nervous at the costing scores of actors mostly men are already waiting to audition for different parts the casting director son need dagger knows about Rena's complain to the police but he still considering her for a role the lines she's memorizing aren't from the movie itself the plot is being kept secret she'll get five minutes to impress Sonny and his colleagues playing a young actress waiting for her big break [Music] how's it feel I'm feeling good as I did in my best mm-hmm you were you look good you really got into character Reena now faces a nervous wait to find out if she got the role despite the controversy actresses say that they don't just face sexual harassment from powerful men within the film industry they're constantly trolled on social media often by men who disapprove of their image and expect women to stay subservient but in Mumbai a television channel is taking under trolls and exposing them this is where this is the set of a new MTV show called troll police it tracks down de troyes harassing celebrities online and brings them face to face with their victims the program is presented by Zarin Khan a huge Bollywood star you need to show them that yes we're women and we are not any lesser and do not consider as inferior because we are equally as human as you guys are and we do not need all these projects cyber investigators have tracked down the man behind some vicious trolling this is Sahil Malek online he hides behind the name Pat amis pasta and now he's about to be confronted by his celebrity victim [Music] the truth thinks is going to be in the audience for an MTV comedy night featuring female comedians bollywood actress mandira bedi is the celebrity this man has been trolling now he's face to face with her but still doesn't realize she knows who he is at first she gets him to read out comments from other trolls know why would a man write something like this then she asks him to recommend she knows he posted there a decimal familiar to my best Arab may attack Joseph mera naam Chile tsunami but the least possible yes she asks him to explain himself tear them to me they married one of the prostitutes a general a concert why can't you say you can write it because you are behind a fake profiles say to me say any of these things to meet you know follow I'm nice and open Margeaux cable off oh my god you can't [Music] baby the right to tell me how to run my life or tell me what to wear who are you if you don't like what I wear don't bloody follow me right keep your opinions user tolerating in silence seems to have been the default way for women here to deal with harassment and abuse but what they're doing is exactly the opposite and that's a huge step there seems to be an appetite for change and it's encouraging more women to speak out almost every day there's been some kind of a news headline about an actress or a female celebrity who's been sexually harassed or abused or experienced some kind of sexual violence within the industry in today's mumbai mirror the story on the front page is about Daisy irani a child actress who six years later has come out and said I was raped ID at the age of six I was harassed throughout my career or here there is another big Bollywood star alina the cruise who says that she has experienced these kind of things if anybody speaks out is the end of their career every day there is something but although nobody's really naming names or in this instance in their child actresses case when they do that predator is long gone this is still a huge change to only a few months ago when no one was even you know coming out and admitting to this and maybe this is creating a momentum for sexual violence and harassment - stop being so accepted and normalized in the industry and later in the society [Applause] Marina is still waiting to find out if she's got a party edition for she's desperate to know why she's struggling to break through from stage 2 movies is it because she lacks star quality or because of her sexual harassment case two top casting agents Sangeeta and Tony Bhatia have agreed to meet up I want to be an actress I have on a good acting job in films that's possible very much possible I can show you my picture so that you can advise me so you want my honest feedback yes you definitely need better pictures than this yeah the styling is horrendous this is something which looks like witches like selfies it's not professional I would have got this in my inbox fwt so can you give me any advice you have to believe in yourself you have to perform they tell her she needs to network more I try to make connection with the casting director and what he did here we did something wrong with me you in which field it doesn't happen out of the whole industry if you've had one bad experience that doesn't mean the industry's back to known as a girl when you are going anywhere when you are doing office an office dog there also something that happened to you rina is realizing that if she wants to be a Bollywood star she'll have to fit in with what the industry expects [Applause] [Music] [Applause] there is more to India's film industry than Bollywood 800 miles south is coaching capital of the state of Kerala it's home to Mollywood where films are made in the Malayalam language one of the hottest Mollywood movie stars is Parvati she's also just started in a massive Bollywood hit in a celebrity-obsessed India she's one of the biggest it's difficult to even walk a few meters without people you know running towards us and asking for pictures she's obviously very popular but recently she criticized the heat movie for its portrayal of women now on social media tons of the male superstar in the movie are sending her vicious and brutal threats in a country where a woman is raped every 15 minutes it's terrifying so my first rape threat 3 to 4 people are gonna come what's your bra size and we are planning to rape you just you wait till we teach you a lesson how did it make you feel it was utter shock four days later I was getting death threats saying that we want your dead body we don't want your films are you we want your dead body it must be really difficult to wake up every morning and really actively read these horrible comments you cannot come to my house and say I'm I'm gonna be killed or that I'm gonna be raped because I open my mouth this is my country is my world I'm an active participant I'm a I'm a lawful citizen I have not done anything wrong recently one of Parvati's friends also a leading actress was gang-raped when she went to the police some newspapers published her name despite Indian lore giving rape victims their right to anonymity now one of Molly woods biggest actors Dilip is on trial accused of organizing the rape today I'm heading to a pre-trial hearing at the courthouse despite the charges there are posters of Dilip slater's film all over the city it's one of Molly woods highest-grossing movies [Music] what's happening today here is very unique it's very important because both the victim and accused are from the film industry they're from the media and a lot of people care and want to find out what happens okay something is happening the leader of the group accused of the gang rape is brought to court under police guard this is the main accused is being brought here the prosecution says dilip hired the gang to rate the actress as punishment because she told his then-wife he was having an affair then delete arrives he's been living at home out on bail I think the prosecution alleged he ordered the rapist to video their assault so he could blackmail the actress into silence he denies all charges the mixture of journalists fans and just everybody trying to get a glimpse I mean a lot of people are excited a lot of fans we're actually trying to take selfies with him it's obviously a huge deal their trial is about to begin so but within an hour the trial is adjourned for a month okay so the trial is over for now it was absolutely packed so many people there was the judge and all the seats were taken even there wasn't even a seat for Dilip himself we had to stand and the victim wasn't present in there herself journalist Megha Varia has been covering the case since it started she takes me to the spot where that actress was abducted so this is itani this is as you can see the pretty you know busy junction II menace week accident is created by the cyber Antioch right you can be picking a chance to get into occur the prosecution alleged she was raped for over an hour and dumped here outside a friend's house from that moment and particularly since the leaves arrest the Indian public has followed every twist and turn of the case when he came out of the jail he was welcomed you know he was welcomed with applauses cheers there were hundreds of people from his vast association just waiting to actually welcome him back how about the victim nobody actually imagined that she would actually come out and reveal that such a thing has happened to her because you're basically normally associate a sexual crime with shame by reporting the crime the female star has taken an important step she's broken the unwritten code that has kept women silent in the face of sexual violence in Mumbai Reena hasn't got the Rossi edition she's considering dropping her complaint against the casting directors she alleges sexually assaulted her where's your case table right now I don't know that flying here I don't know how to handle the case so you know hopefully we'll get some answers today yeah she's come to Majlis an organization giving free advice to victims of sexual abuse Flavia Agnes one of India's top women's rights lawyers says what Riina's done is very brave most of us do not find cases like this how much of a chance do you think she has what do you think will happen he has a chance if you persist in this what did he take time how come I cannot tell you exactly or maybe two to three years would you advise him to continue with this case yes follow up absolutely now she's already done the worse in the sense she's there in public she's already tried women is one piece we need to show silliness Flavia and her team say they'll help Rena if she wants to fight her case I was hopeless but after this meeting I am so much you know I have now I'm confident that I can I should fight rina never wanted to be a flag bearer for the me2 movement but until more actors break the silence surrounding sexual violence in india's film industry it's a role she's prepared to play [Music] thanks for watching this on reports of world episode click the logo to subscribe for more award-winning documentaries from the unreported world team we upload videos every Wednesday and Sunday keeping you up to date with content from all over the world [Music]

Channel: Unreported World

Views: 841,815

Keywords: me too, #metoo, me too campaign, me too movement, me too bollywood, #metoo movement, what is #metoo, #metoo campaign, harvey weinstein, #metoo stories, india, bollywood, bollywood movies, #metoo documentary, sahar zand, india documentary, india bollywood documentary, new season unreported world, new series unreported world, series 35, unreported world, channel 4 unreported world, channel 4, Richa Chadha, Mandy Bedi, Parvathy

Id: hdCTTBjDSHs

Length: 22min 23sec (1343 seconds)

Published: Mon May 21 2018