Discussion: The Actresses Roundtable 2018

Since a particular part of this roundtable was released and shared, this interview became much more in demand than it was when they were shooting for it. Yes, Rani was annoying in this one and trying to take over the conversation. We are just wondering if they shot this at Yash Raj studios because why else would Rani feel so entitled to take lead or take charge here? Even Tabu, a much more senior actress than Rani, is just sitting there quietly and absorbing everything. Tabu probably already understood the direction this discussion was going and already gave up trying to even chip in at the beginning.

The #MeToo discussion comes after 35-min in the video. Alia does start off with a good point. She adds that young girls go through this at home. Rani said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s why you have to take responsibility of your own self!”

Seriously? How would a little girl take responsibility for her own self in her own home if she is being attacked? Rani herself has a small girl, does she know where the child is now? Can she guarantee that the child is safe when she is at work? Did she teach her daughter at her young age to defend herself?

Anushka also adds a good point, but Rani seems to think it’s about something else. Rani’s opinions on the #MeToo controversy is similar to Rakhi Sawant’s opinions. Basically, they were both strong enough to hit back and no one ever did anything inappropriate to them. In both Rani and Rakhi’s situations, it seems as if they have blocked it out and feel ashamed to admit it. We are just guessing, we don’t know for sure. But Rani was a young girl when she made her debut in an industry where the men ruled, so no points for guessing here. Her mother took her out of school and forced her to join films because her family needed to make money. There is no way she entered the industry as a strong-willed woman like she is trying to make others believe now. No way. If she did go through something, someone must have told her, “It’s your fault, you should have defended yourself” and that’s how her mindset is like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx6geZfrVxE

In life, we cannot depend on how the other person will behave with us. We have to take responsibility for our own selves. – Rani Mukherji

I would like to take this platform to say something which I have lived with in this industry for so many years. I think, as a woman, you have to be powerful within yourself. You have to believe that you are so powerful that if you ever come into a situation like that, you have the courage to say ‘back off.

I think everything relates to what you want out of your lives.

If they [women] are ever in a situation like that, then they should make sure that the man suffers right there and then…kick him between his legs or give him a jhappar.

I think it is important for women to believe in themselves and say that if they don’t want it to happen, it will not happen. Those are the women we need to talk to and tell them, you guys need to change. – Rani Mukherji

Her point of view might work in some cases, but not in Bollywood. If actors are harassing women, you think one kick from one woman will stop them from harassing other women? She fails to understand that in powerful industries, powerful men make use of their situation and harass women. If this is her defense, why then did she not go and defend her good friend Aishwarya when Salman was physically and mentally harassing her? Those days, Aish and Rani were tight.

You know, when Zeenat Aman went through hell with her husband (Not Sanjay Khan), Dimple Kapadia publicly supported her. You all know Dimple also went through hell with her husband and that made her stand up in support for her colleague. Actresses from Rani’s generation never did that, they all seem to mind their own business. It’s why Aishwarya was left all alone fighting her own battle. Just imagine, if your friend was beaten up and harassed by her ex, would you still be close friends with the ex? Both Preity and Rani are very close to Salman. What would Rani say to Aish now? She should have learned to defend herself?!

Did Rani forget her brother was arrested on molestation charges? If not for her husband, her brother would have still been in jail!

Should we blame her mother for her brother’s behaviour?

Alia and Deepika’s expression when Rani is going on and on is priceless! Alia looks like she is ready to cry and Deepika looks like she is about to break that coffee handle. It is frustrating to have your senior colleague putting you down like this in front of the world with her regressive thoughts!

By the way, Rani seems to be psychic. Before the minute any of these actresses opened their mouth, she is agreeing with them and then cutting them off to speak her mind. She is really really restless. It’s like you are in a meeting and you are holding the urge to pee so you want to finish the conversation quickly.

Anushka was talking about her experience in Bollywood in regards to #MeToo, Rani was adding her 2 cents. Taapsee was talking about how she felt doing patriotic films and Rani was adding her 50 cents like if this was a conversation between Taapsee and Rani. Alia was talking about playing her character in ‘Raazi’, again Rani stepped in. Maybe she was mistakenly given an invite to this discussion as a host. She probably thought that she was the one interviewing them or they were there to listen to her wise words! Finally, she is living up to her name!

Rani said something about living in a small house and not having enough place to keep things from the sets in reference to Rajeev asking them if they have ever taken things from the sets. And we were like, what is she talking about? She lives in a freaking bungalow! She actually lives with Mr. India so you can imagine how much free space she has. She even mentioned how Shah Rukh can afford to keep things from the sets because he has a huge house. By probably the third time she was whining about her house not having space, Deepika lost it and asked her to “keep quiet, you live in a bungalow”. Notice how after she said “keep quiet”, her hand moved to Rani’s hand in case Rani had an impulse to slap her! Remember how we told Deepika’s mouth speaks first and then her brain realises what her mouth just blurted out and tries to make amends! Basically, she speaks her truth at first and then tries to cover it up because it might hurt others. When she said Keep Quiet, everyone, including Rani, was surprised!

Alia just made us realise how her fake relationship with Ranbir is creepy! She named him as her childhood crush! She was 11 when she went to the sets of ‘Black’ and met him for the first time. This is really weird! No wonder she was so happy to be fake linked up with him!

Why is it they all had difficulty to understand Rajeev’s question about who they would kill to play onscreen? Is it that hard to understand because Anushka literally answered she does not want to kill anyone for roles! Is it the after-effect of the #MeToo round?

Just take Rani’s opinions with a pinch of salt. You cannot really look up to a woman, who has walked over other women and broken marriages. Not all women or actresses are like that, but Rani has become just like her husband: they both believe they have the authority to tell people what they should do. They are the Gods in their own world!

By the way, why wasn’t Radhika Apte invited? She should have come and explained her secret of how she has worked in so many films and shows in 2018 and also, if she really owns a stake in Netflix India. No, just joking.

But yes, she should have been there as well as Neena Gupta. It would be nice if actresses, who have never been invited before, get invited.

Before we end, we just want to bring up what Rani said. Yes, it is good to learn martial arts, but remember everyone reacts differently to dangerous situations. More than 10 years ago, there was this woman somewhere in Asia, she was taken from a shopping mall by a man who just threatened her with a knife. She was kidnapped in her own car, raped and then burnt to death by this man. Her mother and husband couldn’t understand why she went with the man when she knew martial arts and could very well have defended herself. But it clearly looked like she froze in the CCTV when the man threatened her.

So, no. Rani is out of her mind! She was already cancelled, now we have upgraded it to Fully Cancelled with no Refund!