Tanushree Dutta‘s sexual harassment claims have sort of started what is Bollywood’s #MeToo movement in Bollywood. Yesterday, the internet was up in flames thanks to comedian Utsav Chakraborty who has been accused of lewd behaviour towards women on social media and other platforms. It sort of started India’s very own #TimesUp movement yet again, when many women on social media called out their employers, CEOs and many other people in power who had been contacting them inappropriately.
Today, yet another Bollywood celebrity has come out and confessed about a time when one of her friends had molested her in public. Mahesh Bhatt‘s first daughter Pooja Bhatt was speaking at the India Today Conclave East 2018 when she revealed that a male friend once grabbed her breast at an airport.
She said,
You’re imagining an enemy out there, when the enemy will be right here sitting next to you.
She further added that women need to be smart, aware and be able to confront their abusers.
She spoke up about a lot of personal things like how she was once in a relationship with an alcoholic abuser and how when she had spoken about it people in Bollywood had asked her why she was disclosing the details of her personal life so publicly.
She revealed,
I was in a relationship with an alcoholic, and he hit me. I spoke up and the industry asked me why I was washing dirty linen in public? But I’m just as vulnerable. Being Mahesh Bhatt’s daughter doesn’t make it hurt any less.
But even then, she thanks the people who belittled her because she says that’s what gave her the power to stand up and fight her own battle.