There is a series of short blind items below that was posted on SKJ Bollywood News. It is all heard of, except for that story of the brother of Bollywood’s showman. This we have never heard before, so it’s a little surprising. The rest, you have all heard of it so it’s not really surprising anymore.
Like SKJ says, the big guns will not be outed this soon in this #MeToo. Only someone with guts and who is brave can out them without fearing anything. We are waiting to see that happen because someone has to bring these powerful men, who abuse their power like this. It has been going on for too long and now is the time, but who will do it?
Anyways, check out the short blind items by SKJ. Thanks to the reader, who shared it.
Bollywood Blind Item
There was this Showman , one of Bollywood’s most honoured filmmakers who would sleep with all his heroines, would get drunk and slobber over women’s bosoms which he affectionately called ‘duddhu’ .His cronies smirked and chuckled. You see they too had no choice. They had their careers to think of.
By the way, in some parts of the world “doudou” means breast.
Male actors have considered it a matter of entitlement to do what they like with women who work with them. A very prominent leading lady of the 1960s tell me, “Of course it happened. The bigger they were the more entitled they felt.”
By bigger she means the heroes’ stardom. There was India’s dancing star, coincidentally the brother of the ‘duddhu’- obsessed hero we just spoke about, who was “extremely rough and crude with the heroines who didn’t oblige.”
Or take the biggest hero of them all, India’s first superstar who had the girls across the country in a collective swoon. His behaviour with women was so shocking and shameful he would most certainly qualify as a prominent harasser in the current Me Too movement. During his time heroines giggled when he pinched their bottoms.
Back then such behaviour was an accepted part of the entertainment business. There is a story(unverified) of the legendary Raj Kumar sitting with a journalist-friend, getting a call from an iconic heroine known for her tragic image.
Mr Kumar finished the call, turned to the journalist and grinned, “Unless I go to her she won’t be able to sleep.”
Heroes openly bragged about their conquests. Indian cinema’s he-man would turn the pages of film magazines and point to the heroines he had conquered.
They still brag. The dark intense hero cracks up telling his friends loudly about the women he has slept with.
The irony of this deep rooted misogyny is that some of the big names filled with righteous indignation about those culprits who are named and shamed, are themselves guilty of widespread exploitation.
A very big leading lady told me, “Of course I’ve been through it. But I can’t complain. I am where I am and it’s best to not rake up the past. No one rapes anyone. If you feel like giving in, you do. It’s as simple as that.”
So only those who have not “made it” will come forward. Their voices are being heard, of course. But none of these has the clout and power to push the movement to the next level.
Swara Bhaskar spoke about a director who harassed her during a long outdoor shooting. Why doesn’t she call him out? “Because he is not doing any work as far as I know. I don’t want him to get publicity if I call him out.”
I am sure the director must have wiped the sweat from brow on hearing this. But if selective shaming and that too via several anonymous accounts, is all that the MeToo movement has to offer in Bollywood, then I am afraid the movement will die down for the want of heft.
@ admin: thank u
At the end of the day, some of these men had affairs with their heroines. My point is some (if not all) were affairs by mutual consent. E.g. Nargis if she was alive today cannot claim she was exploited by R Kapoor. She willingly had an affair with him with full knowledge that he was married. Same goes for Rekha, Tina Munni and some heroines.
Salman for example doesn’t even need to chase girls. They all throw themselves at him. Gist is he has done it with most of his heroines. Same goes for Ajay D and Akshay Kumar. Salman and Ajay’s boasting about it though is classless.
My point is we should not confuse the purpose of the MeToo movement so it is not used as some sort of tool for revenge by a jilted or scorned woman rather than to provide justice for the exploited.
Besides, trust me, your top heroines want the MeToo movement to end. For example Salman claims to have done most of his heroines, right? Actresses like Rani and Priety who have done a lot of films with him might be included in that list. You think they want the news out?
How convenient of you to mention only affairs with consent to put down me too as “look the girls were ok with it, they are asking for it I mean one can’t expect man to say no to these women, look but these women are famous got money “.
If all the top heroines were exploited how does that make it ok if they are haunted by it why would they speak about it
At what point are people going to realize accepting this sexual exploitation as part and parcel of this profession that is bw is wrong.would people be ok if it was to happen in others professions like banking,engr, medicine.?? because hey you still get job all you have to do is consent to sleep with the interviewer
I don’t think he/she is putting down the #MeToo movement. He/she pointing out that including affairs by mutual consent in the #MeToo movement would destroy its purpose. Many of the audience wouldn’t take it seriously.
BTW, Bollywood is a disgusting place. I can’t even look at those i once admired like SRK, Kajol, the same way again because either they’re perpetuators, they protect the perpetuators or they are all sleeping around too. Watching bollywood movies now brings bile to my throat because i can’t help but wonder how many have been exploited for that movie.
I’ll rather choose another career than compromise to get the fame. At the end of the day, it’s not worth it when you can’t sleep with a clean conscience
The point is some women use the man to get the job , there are two emotionally damaged top actresses who did just that. One chose an influential man who helped her go places and is still helping her .The second one is the better actress but landed up in a rotten relationship with an aging actor . None of these ladies were in love with the men ,they have all used each other . Nobody should pay with sex for a job but some women are more than willing to do just that if it gets them fame and money . The more popular the star/director/producer , the more some fame hungry type is ready to chase them offering favors without caring if the man is married . Whatever anybody says this does not qualify as sexual harassment .
@notall I have never heard or read anything that said Raj Kapoor-Nargis affair, Rekha-Amitabh Affair, Tina-Rajesh Kanna affair labeled as casting couch. These affairs have always been called as extra-marital affairs. Raj-Nargis, Rekha-
Amitabh love stories are immortalised/romantisized as greatest love stories of bollywood. No one has claimed otherwise. Raj Kapoor’s kid Rishi proudly still refer to his father’s iconic love affairs with Vijyanthimala and Nargis.
Casting couch is when an actor in exchange for a movie role has to give sexual favours in return. They are not in any kind of relatiinship romantic or otherwise. Relationship/affairs even if one party is in a position of power and the other party get benefits through them is not casting couch.
So if a scorned or jilted lover /an affiar that ended badly use #metoo movement to curicify the guy and publicly shame a guy that does not qaulify as metoo and I have seen a lot of people advocating for metoo on sm say the same.
SOS SOS…@Admin, not able to access blind on Bhavesh Joshi, dated 31/10. Bollywood 7.
Clicking on it leads to a blank page. A bug ?
Here: https://www.oneshotoneplace.com/blind-item-october-2018-bollywood-7/ – it’s working well.
Strange .Link not opening on my phone.
Their are story about jeenat aman how she get satyam shivam shundaram so this ppl never exposed bcz actress them self have throw on this men to get job its not just men fault in such case like this.like
Katrina Jacqueline are where today in industry without any talent only because of this only.
Monalisa,in any normal work environment both expecting and offering favours of sexual,financial nature is considered a crime.like bribe,it’s a crime to ask for it,it’s a crime to offer it to someone in a place of power to get your work done.in education,if you ask favours from students you get blacklisted by university and cannot get a job in another place.similarly as a student if you offer bribe or sexual favours you get rustigated and it’s mentioned in your character certificate.you will not get a job easily as you would normally need a recommendation letter,and there are background checks.its the same case in movie entertainment business.law should be equal for all parties,people asking favours as well as people offering favours,both should be held accountable.from your arguments I agree with holding people who exploit responsible.but the same law should also apply vice versa.
@lucy Yoe seem to have changed your opinion from what you first wrote in your comments in replies to Golden girl and leap. Good for you. But whatever arguement you are taking up now is not what I had issue a with in your original comment nor did you raise these points in that comment. So this comment of yours I agree with but the arguements you put forward in your first few comments in reply to Golden girl and leap I still agree to disagree.
I said this before and I will say this again. Even after Independence, when the economic activity in villages was controlled by feudal landlords/nawabs/rajas – villagers would allow them to take their women and children into bonded slavery. This did not mean they did so willingly. They did it because they had no choice.
The same thing is happening in Bollywood-these men, either with Mafia or political support, control all economic activity in this industry. They are using this to exploit women and children. They must be stopped. Frankly, where is the choice in this industry? You simply lose your livelihood if you say ‘No’.
As for the question someone asked, about those who offered to sleep with these men…well, you are right. Such people need to be treated just like those who offer any bribe. But, just because you are offered a bribe doesn’t mean you accept it. If they do, they are equally guilty.
However, unless we acknowledge the inherent exploitation in unequal positions of power, and bring a culture change about it, there’s not a lot that can be done. These creeps though need to remember that such behavior is exactly why people revolt like the Naxals did in the 70s.
Thanks for summarising my argument,you framed my arguments better than what I wanted to convey
Yes, Tina. It is important for us to ask why do people in positions of power (the ability of give or take a job/opportunity) ask for sexual favors? It is like asking for bribe. This cannot be normalized. A person who needs/values the job, will not be able walk away without losing livelihood. These are unfair hiring practices that most developing countries have outlawed through anti-gender discrimination laws.
A part of the problem is that these laws are non-existent/not strong enough in India to punish this kind of predatory behavior. If there is no punishment, its difficult to punish bad behavior. In India, for many cases, our legal system responds after civil society protests or responds in a large way (like the gay sex decriminalization or post-Nirbhaya rape legislation). I feel that for #metoo we should continue naming and shaming people who are predators. Short of legal punishment, shame is something that could be a deterrent. And hope that the legal system responds to this with designing appropriate laws.
For the benefit of those who are reading this, here is an article written by a Supreme Court advocate:
https://www.vogue.in/content/why-its-not-okay-to-be-called-hot-at-work-sexual-harassment-in-india/
According to the law “The onus of ensuring you can focus on your work unmolested is not on you but on those in charge at your workplace.” Hiring is specifically not there probably because there is not legal provision as yet, but should be.
I don’t post here regularly so if anybody disagrees with me, feel free, I probably won’t respond.
Thank you both! Lucy, thanks for the link, that quote you have should be blown up and posted on billboards. BTW 1000s of Google workers all over the world walked out in protest against sexual harassment at the workplace. Change may be slow, but it’s coming.
Juhi is the only 90s leading actress I heard responding to a MeToo question. Even then, it was the usual ‘sad and shocked about it’ response. Does tht mean she had no idea about all this happening? Where are all the other actresses?
Kajol, Raveena and Twinkle did. Juhi is actually late. And I think she’s lying about not knowing or being shocked and sad. She’s an outsider and must have compromised too.
Kajol said it never happened to her and if what happened to Tanushree had happened in her presence, she would have done something about it. Although her body language showed she wished she didn’t have to answer as she was promoting her film at that time. She’s probably having sleepless night wondering if and when someone would call out her husband.
Raveena also commented. In fact, I’m surprised Admin didn’t write an article on Raveena’s tweets. (In case you did and I missed it, please reply with the link). She even called out wives who cover their husbands, most likely hinting at Twinkle Khanna. And talked about stars who threaten actresses after the end of their affair, hinting at Ajay D. However, she backed off by denying the names when twitteratis started putting two and two together.
Twinkle was one of the first tweeters. Apparently spearheaded Nana’s removal from Housefull. Another person who is having sleepless nights.
I don’t expect any successful actress to come out and say the truth by calling out the big sharks. Sorry but I’m too jaded right now.
@Admin, is it just me or the format of the website keeps switching between the plain white background one and the funkier blueish one? i prefer the former, the other one doesnt let me scroll down to older posts…
Raj kapoor rumors were new to me, because the way rishi kapoor , in interview was saying that ranbir should be very careful with the girl he picks ,because she will give birth to raj kapoor grand children! Meaning ,their serial cheater son, should marry a symbol of purity! Did he not know how his father was! High time these kapoors are called out! Enough of them looking down on other people’s daughters !
@Rami of course rishi knows about his fathers adventures that is why they prefer stay at home door mats and rishi/neetu were never keen on their son going for an actress and were against karishma and kareena entering movies
Weren’t their news articles about skj molesting men and asking them sexual favours, and how he blackmailed them that he would tarnish their image by writing negative articles if they wouldn’t give in…
So one trash aka s.k.j is calling out other powerful trashy men in bollywood. Irony just died.
This article might be true but will never forget what a big trash skj is….
And why hasn’t skj mentioned the biggest molester and harasser in the list i.e “Mahanayak Sri. Amitabh bacchan”. Awww of course skj loves Amitabh , so he’ll never write anything about bacchan.
Some times whatever skj writes is honest but in most cases he’s on the roaster of any one who pays him or any one whom he likes.
@pooja True. Irony died a thousand deaths when SKJ talks about MCP behaviour, molestation and harassment. Sonu Nigam himself came out with allegations of sexual harassment against SKJ. And the biased SKJ will never talk about Amitabh because according to one of his tweets, Amitabh could never do anything wrong.
The Raj Kapoor story is well known. I read an retro news article scan talking about this incident. I remeber Ratna Patak talking about how Shammi used to pinch actresses butts during one of the Rajeev Masand’s roundtable interview. I think it was last year’s one.
Ratna Pathak was talking about this behaviour being shown in films,as a way of wooing women ..like the man does this and the women gets all coy and says “you stupid” childishly.didnt know she was also talking about in real life as well.had heard shashi was a gentleman but there was gossip of him sexuallyharassing his manager once.prithviraj kapoor was also a man like this,when shashi was dating Jennifer he made her meet his father.his father asked shashi to get Jennifer’s 18 year old cousin for him.shashi was apparently disgusted.i read this on one gossip thread about kapoors.all men of that family are perverts of the highest order,very evident how they keep bragg8ng about their affairs.i was particularly disgusted when rishi went all out blasting vaijantimala for denying having an affair with raj kapoor.they don’t understand that normal people don’t brag about their affairs,they are usually ashamed of it and would like to completely deny it and forget.look the way entire family keeps bragging about raj kapoor nargis,as if. They were Radha Krishna type of lovers pure and pious when in reality he took advantage of her in so many ways.
Sorry unclued but who is skj
@Lucy what the kapoor men like rishi dont realize when they are yapping on about their women conquests the ladies are now married , have kids , grand kids they have family at-least out of min decency he should let them move on with lives in peace. by bragging they not only drag those women but also their wives and other women . as mere door mats
raj kapoor is said to even made life difficult for women to a point they had to do movies with him and as a result get harrased by him if they had initially refused to work with him. Not sure how true it is but rajesh khana stopped his barat out side his ex’s home for an hour with all the band baga happening on the day of his wedding with twinkle. ab is said to have forcefully kissed a actress in a film party, how dilip treated madhubala is no secret he is said to have been an egomaniac back in the day
Rajesh khanna is worse than that,he used to burn his wife’s legs and thighs with cigarette butts,nd there Are lot of worse things I read about him.about raj kapoor I read he used to have tapes of actresses when they did the deed with him,which he used to use to blackmail them.some of them were underage when this happened to them.technically raj kapoor should have been charged with statuary rape.and few actress,a particular Bengali actress was forced to be shared between him and shammi kapoor.even when she was dead tired,she was supposed to provide them with sex.i read a entire India forum thread about their deeds,some of it were very shocking.and they had real names of people who said those things.like directors and journalists who saw his behaviour in person.there was a story published as to how he asked a female journalist to show him her breasts in full public view in a party.i am forgetting her name,then there was dharmendra who mercilessly beat up a woman journalist for writing about his Casanova behaviour.
https://tanqeed.com/blast-from-the-past-the-terrible-truths-about-the-thespian-dilip-kumar/
This sums up dilip kumar
@lucy insane tales
“Of course I’ve been through it. But I can’t complain. I am where I am and it’s best to not rake up the past. No one rapes anyone. If you feel like giving in, you do. It’s as simple as that.”
This is what I always said. No one force any one to sleep with them nor its a one sided thing, It takes two to tango. These young women are ready to do anything for fame and stardom. They are told this is a way to stardom. They happily agreed to do whatever it takes to achieve their dreams. so how can they complain?
no one is saint in this dark world of Bollywood.
yeah but its still wrong and awful. why were they put in that position. you think any woman was “happy” about having to sleep with that potbellied creepy uncle subhash ghai or have a drunk raj kapoor slobber over them? they were probably traumatised and haunted by it for years. while these guys were feted and awarded and honoured left right and centre. whats right about that? SMH.
Totally it’s an awful and sad thing. Some women do it to get fame and few are trapped and many are brain washed . As I mentioned these women are told that this is a way to stardom. There are countless examples of how actresses who dares to mess up with the biggies got replaced with no offers . So many happily agreed so they can get what they want . Fame is addicted. No one wants to let it go. Also, no one here has any morals and dignity.
There is a difference between the heroines of yesteryears and today.most of the older ones were forced into all of this when they were children.neetu kapoor used to get slapped mercilessly by her own mother if she refused to do all this.i don’t know if you have come across her pictures that she took when she was 14.her mother made her do it and used those pictures to pimp her out to producers.rekha was subjected to such brutality,I won’t write it here.but sobha de’s novel is partially based on her.she was forced by her mother and bad financial circumstances.all the older heroines,sridevi menakshi too.they were all uneducated and were the golden goose of their greedy families.also the yesteryear heroes had too much mafia connection to threaten and force these women to do stuff.but 2005 onwards I would be personally judgmental about the choices these men/women make.because they come from well off families,are educated and make these choices because they are greedy for fame and money.not because they have no other option.
All the top actors/actresses who are where they are is because they made these choices out of greed,they know very well that would not land any job because they are not talented and are like a wooden Plank,they will never make it if they auditioned for roles.so this seems like an easier and quick climb to success.the talented ones only do it once or twice and once they have their breakthrough they start getting roles on their own merit.the wooden planks need to keep doing it because there is no other way of them getting the roles.they are simply not talented enough to land any acting gig.
no matter what you say sexual exploitation of any human in guise is work for any profession in this world is NEVER ok. Any employer should judge a potential employee on the bases of skills for the job only
I am not advocating it to be okay,it is not.in an ideal world there should be no exploitation of any kind,but we don’t live in an ideal world.there are good things and bad,in everything life ,job,relationship everything.if I have to judge,I will judge a person based on a choice they make and look at their circumstances at that point.like someone who comes an unstable family background,doesn’t have educational qualifications,is not qualified for anything else,doesn’t have stable parents or friends to advice them,if they give in to casting couch or make bad decisions to have a sort of financial stability it’s understandable.but someone who comes from stable family and economic,educational background and willingly compromising to get easy success and doesn’t want to work hard,Want everything quickly,wants to snatch a deserving persons work by sleeping with the producers directors superstars,then I’ll be judgemental.because they have no excuse of saying oh we had a “majboori”.because then the choice is out of greed for quick fame,money,success not bad circumstances.
@leaps Normalizing exploitation is how predators get away with such behaviour. The ladies who sleep are slut-shamed not the predators. How would you me or anybody else know what went through two people in private. Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer and his own defence for the rape allegation is that it was consenual they slept for a role and now later crying rape was the exact word of Harvey’s lawyer when he gave an interview. And using the same exuse as Harvey’s lawyer to slut shame and normalize casting couch indirectly supporting the defence used by such predators to get away with such behaviour. And if all the rape accusations are proven to be false by a court of law, the ladies who accused would be in the same boat as the ladies who slept for a role (ie: indulged in casting couch). Would then the people up to that point who supported them and shamed ladies who indulged in casting couch turn around and start shaming Harvey’s accusers because they could not prove the sex they had was without consent (ie:rape) so it must be done with consent (ie:casting couch)? The general principle of law is presumption of innocence until proven guilty in a court of law. Ie: Everyone charged with an offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilt. No matter how much a person is shamed, outed, media trials, people’s trials if the allegations are not proven in court he is not guilty of a crime.
Sleeping or not sleeping is not the issue but the person in a position of power misusing their power by asking for such thing in the first place is the prblem or one’s deciosn being swayed by such things is the problem. If such behaviour is considered as sexual harassment of workplace in other place of businesses then why should casting couch be norm in movie making business.
Saloni Chopra was so right in what she wrote about mindsets.
exactly exploiting people is wrong
Asking for favours is WRONG,what about offering services because you know that you will not get the job on merit.you will never be able to ace an audition because you just can’t act,but you want to snatch work from someone who deserved it,was better than you and is an amazing actor.will it be exploitation?i don’t think so.that is precisely the problem,most of the so called actors aren’t actors,those places money fame etc belonged to someone better,but they didn’t get it because there were people willing to do whatever they could to snatch it.it is not normalising predatory behaviour,it is WRONG on all levels.so is solicitation,which is also WRONG.
With Harvey’s case,there were a lot of such cases where certain roles were snatched away from actresses who auditioned,got the job on merit,almost signed contract but were replaced last minute by average actresses because they offered Harvey sexual favours on their own.not defending Harvey at all,but to me one who wants to climb up using unfair means is also wrong.they enable the predators by offering such favours.if so many people are willing to do whatever they ask of,the predators start believing they can expect such things out of everyone.in Bollywood too most of the actresses who worked with salman,sajid khan,akshay Kumar can barely act,are wooden planks or don’t speak a word of Hindi.
@Lucy by your logic the only women working in Bollywood should be:
1) destitute women who have no choice
2) nepobabies
if there are women from “good families” they should either walk away from their dreams and become secretaries or nurses or whatever or they should patiently wait while doors get slammed on their faces and their (already brief) shelf life expires. where is the fairness in any of these scenarios?
i used to feel upset my fave a-listers were not coming forward but now i understand perfectly why. because of arguments like yours. they know people will say it was their choice, they werent victims if they got something out of it, they had questionable morals, why didnt they just leave and walk away. and so everyone big will stay quiet. and so the predation will carry on forever. no one will ever spend a day in jail. @monalisa one of weinstein’s accuser’s case got thrown out exactly for this reason. because the lawyer convinced the court she was “asking for it”.
@lucy You are still not getting my point. So this my last respond regarding this matter. I think I would agree to disgree with you on this matter.I think how you articulated your first comment was what I had an issue with. You over generalized everything.
How do you know which actresses offered sexual sercvices themselves or they were asked by men position of power that in return for such favours they did what they did. You are assuming and generalizing they offered and were not asked. If one of these actresses rumoured to have slept there way to the top, one day turn around and claimed she was raped (with evidence) it was not casting couch with consent then? Not all rape victims, molestation victims come forward with their stories. There are people molested as children who never shared there trauma with anyone or rape victims who never filed a police report…
I have said this before in a comment as well, I’m not talking about consenual affairs with a powerful man. Those don’t fall in these categories. And I condemn them.
You seem to think in your first comment if a woman comes from a well to do, edcated background there is no difference of position of power. Even then there is power play. There is no equal footing. They have no power in the industry just like all those poor uneducated girls. That these woman from educated and well to do families run after men and offer their services and they are not asked for such services. Which are all assumptions and over-generalizations. All I’m saying is irregardless of the family background, education level anyone could be exploited.
If a talentless actress get a job over a talented one by merely sleeping is unfair. That I agree. But there are so many talented who still have to go through it as well. There rumours of Taapsee (with Akki), Vidya (in south), and countless other talented actresses who had to sleep for roles as well. So not only talentless actress go through it.
So the first step is shaming predators and saying what they are doing is wrong and that should not be based on victims social standing or talent.
Harvey gave jobs to a lot of people who did not offer him sexual services too you know. Gwenyth Paltrow was harassed but he gave her a job. And in Gwenyth’s case he uses her name to get aspiring actresses to sleep with saying she slept for the role when later it was revealed she never did. The Harvey example was taken to show how people in power use casting couch (consensual sex for roles) as the defence for rape (sex without consent). So if any of Harvey’s cases accusers of rape could not prove the allegation of rape there case would be that of a casting couch. Harvey indulged in casting couch and got away with it. So all I’m saying stop normalizing casting couch which are used by predators to get away with it.. It was not taken to show that predators should not be publicly shamed or they are predators only when proven in a court of law. Or that we should justify talentless people sleeping around to get jobs.
I get your point,hope people will be atleast be wary and this stops to some extend.
London and monalisa,I agree with what you said.its exactly how things should happen.but it doesn’t,thats the point.the people and system which has authority to stop these things need to be convinced that you said no,and tried your best to put forward your denial in clear words.sadly that’s how things work.i am saying from that perspective.anyways I get your arguments and I concur.cheers!
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