Hema Committee impact: Ena Saha reveals casting couch incident in Tolly
KOLKATA: Amid the RG Kar Hospital rape and murder incident, allegations of sexual harassment have surfaced
in Tollywood.
The Directors’ Guild has already suspended filmmaker Arindam Sil indefinitely due to an alleged sexual harassment case and an FIR has also been filed against him. More actresses in the Bengali film industry are now speaking out about these issues. Actress Ena Saha has also come forward to share her experience of sexual harassment.
Ena started working in the industry before she turned 18. She revealed that she, too, was asked to “compromise” to get work. After refusing the “offer to compromise”, a producer who had invited her on a drive, dropped her off late at night on a deserted road in Rajarhat, Kolkata. This incident happened 10 years ago, and then, she decided to start her own production company to avoid such situations. Well-known actors like Yash Dasgupta, Nusrat Jahan and Mimi Chakraborty have worked with her production house. Although the experience scared her, Ena, who has worked in films like ‘Chiro Dini Tumi Je Amar 2’, ‘Bojhena Se Bojhena’ and ‘Britto’, never filed a
formal complaint.
Speaking out now, she questions why there isn’t more discussion about the women who choose to compromise for work. She bluntly stated that the Bengali film industry can be a toxic environment.
On Tuesday, the state government proposed setting up a committee in Tollywood,
similar to the one recommended by the Hema Committee in the Malayalam film industry.
Actress Ritabhari Chakraborty met Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at Nabanna, where the proposal for an “unbiased” committee was discussed. Taking to social media, Ritabhari said that she is not representing any party but met the CM on behalf of women in Tollywood. The ‘Fatafati’ actress also said that the CM heard all the issues that troubled women in the Bengali film industry for ages and “a step was taken to cleanse it from these predators”. “Chief Minister responded to our request of creating a similar body like Hema Committee. My request for the body to not have any political name or film personalities was heard,” she said in another post. The ‘Bohurupi’ actress said that during the course of the meeting, she proposed the creation of “an unbiased committee consisting of five members”, headed by a retired justice.
She also proposed the inclusion of women from various professions such as doctors and lawyers. The aim of this proposed committee would be to investigate allegations of sexual harassment and produce a comprehensive report. She also mentioned that such investigations need time and patience but she is hopeful.
