Mandana Karimi says she doesn't want to work in Bollywood
Mandana Karimi feels sad how the conduct of filmmaker Sajid Khan, who was accused by multiple women - including herself - of sexual misconduct during the #MeToo movement, has been normalised with his participation in the popular reality show 'Bigg Boss'.
Season 16 of the Salman Khan-hosted show has been receiving tremendous flak for welcoming Sajid as one of the contestants, despite media testimony by at least nine women. The late actor Jiah Khan's sister Karishma Khan had also accused the director of sexually harassing Jiah when she spoke to 'BBC' for the documentary, 'Death of Bollywood' (2021).
During an interview with a leading daily, Mandana said she was not surprised how the filmmaker was back in the mainstream.
"To be honest, I'm not surprised to see him back in the spotlight. For people, life has become like I will put my head under the sand. If it's going to benefit me and I can make money, then who cares? That shows why the 'MeToo' movement in India and many other countries didn't really reach anywhere," she said.
Mandana said just a few women came forward and spoke about their experiences during the #MeToo movement, but 'that was it'.
"What is the action? Who is boycotting these people? Nothing is going to happen. Because we are talking about the bigger industry, which is a place where someone is someone's mom, boyfriend, girlfriend or husband. It's like you, you scratch my back and I will scratch your back."
Karimi said it pained her to see Sajid Khan onscreen and added that she has consciously chosen not to work in an industry that disrespects its women like this.
"It does make me feel sad. To be honest, that's also the reason I have not worked for the last seven months. I'm not working anymore. I didn't go to any auditions. I don't want to work in Bollywood. I don't want to be involved with an industry where there is no respect for women."
Mandana said she is now contemplating what to do next after she leaves the Hindi film industry.
