In light of the Hema Committee report, The New Indian Express spoke to filmmaker and editor of The Daily Eye, Vinta Nanda, to reflect on the Me-Too movement in Bollywood in 2018 and its impact on the women who came forward to speak against predators.
Nanda had accused Alok Nath, an actor in her TV series Tara, of raping her in the late-1990s. Nath was subsequently expelled from the Cine and TV Artists Association (CINTAA). Excerpts from the interview:
When it comes to what is panning out in Kerala now and what happened back in 2018 in Mumbai, what are the differences? Are solidarity and WCC key to the Hema Committee formulation and findings?
Me-Too in Bollywood is now viewed as individual battles, but at the time, it was a collective movement. Many women came forward, but now, except for me, maybe a couple of others like Tanushree Datta, and of course a section of the media which continues to follow up on it, no one talks about it anymore. I'm older and know my career options. I don't mind being isolated for speaking up, but I understand why younger women have gone silent — they have their whole lives and careers ahead of them. I might have done the same in their position. I'm bolder now, simply because of my age.
There was solidarity among the women who spoke out. Although some doors closed for many of us, others opened. Filmmakers, NGOs, activists, and Mathew Antony, along with his stellar team of lawyers, Dhruti Kapadia, Faranaz Karbhari and Kunal Tiwari, offered pro bono help. They stood by me and so also did others for the many women who spoke courageously. But over time, unfortunately, we became scattered. One of the leading associations for Directors of films and television, worked to silence us. During a meeting where I was asked to recount my experience, the hostility was overwhelming. I was emotionally crushed and broke down in front of industry leaders. It was humiliating. I later recovered, but it was one of the hardest moments.
The younger women, many of whom spoke out against powerful film directors, faced similar circumstances and immense challenges. Approaching people for work after that was impossible. I had more agency because of an established career. If I struggled, imagine what it must have been like for them. We still support each other, but there's little we can do.
Is that the reason why there's silence now on the Hema Committee report?
What really bothers me is that the Hema Committee report was to be released in 2019, following the 2018 Me-Too movement. Imagine the momentum it could have built. Instead, but it was buried. It would have placed the Me-Too movement in a much stronger position. The report could have changed everything for women in the industry. Now, we feel cheated — those of us who spoke out in 2018. Whoever silenced that report in 2019 is the villain.
People are now screened before they're allowed into Bollywood's inner circles. Anyone likely to rebel or speak up isn't allowed in. The movement is being laughed at, and the women who came forward are ridiculed. It's a sad situation.
You spoke about IFTDA and CINTAA. What was the role of the various associations in Bollywood?
The Screenwriters Association (SWA) reached out to me quickly. The Producers' Guild of India sent a polite note of sympathy, but nothing more. SWA was more engaged — they formed a committee to listen to me. They were sensitive but stepped back, saying they couldn't go any further to hearing me out due to jurisdictional limitations. I was pressured into filing an FIR, even though I knew it wouldn't lead anywhere. It felt pointless — 20 years later, what proof could I offer? The idea of a medical examination was especially absurd.
CINTAA, however, took action. Though I wasn't a member, they pursued my case because the accused was. They sent him notices, and when he didn't appear, they suspended him. That was concrete action.
Unfortunately, the new CINTAA committee doesn't prioritise women's issues like the previous one did. They're no longer in office but regularly in touch with me as well as the others.
What can be the way forward to set things right?
We need to start with the basics — pay parity. Why can't women be paid equally? The common excuse is that women's films don’t do well, but how much do you invest in marketing them? If you marketed a film with a female protagonist as aggressively as a male-led film, I'm certain she could carry it. It's a chicken-and-egg story.The marketing of a Shraddha Kapoor led film, for instance, isn't backed with the same budget as one of a lead hero unless she's starring alongside one. How will people know a woman-led film even exists if it isn't marketed and distributed in the manner that male-led films are?
Also, this is not just about actors. Women work in every department of this industry — sound engineers, DoPs, hairdressers, makeup artists, today we have women working as gaffers too — and they all deserve to be paid equally. This disparity affects every corner of the industry. Once women are paid equally, everything else will fall into place. If you pay me lesser than a man doing the same job as I am doing, you'll treat me as less.
In a television debate recently, there were speakers claiming that Me-Too only affected only "low-hanging fruit". But that's where the worst violations occur — where the public isn't looking.
Actors make up only 10% of the women working in this industry. The other 90% are in the shadows, and the conditions they work in are often appalling. This is where the focus needs to be.
There were some young filmmakers back in 2018 who spoke of having bigger representation of women in their crews. Do you see that as having any consequence?
I don't think it's part of a strategic design. There are odd films here and there where women dominate the cast and crew but they are few and far between. Women's representation has grown over the years, but even today, productions are planned with the intent to hire more men than women. If women are included it's because they have to be — it's more optics than real change. The world is watching, so they have no choice but to include women on their sets, but it's not done willingly.
You made a film in 2023 called #Shout, which focused on patriarchy and the feminist movement in India. What happened to the film?
#Shout is about patriarchy and traces 50 years of the feminist movement in India, juxtaposed with the Me-Too movement. We travelled the country, starting 2019, interviewing 55 people from various walks of life — activists, lawyers, survivors, families of victims, authors, advocates of human rights and many from marginalised communities who face injustice. It took us four years to complete the film, and by the time it was finished, the producers got cold feet. They realised the film was honest, too truthful about the status of women and patriarchy in India. They had expected a sensationalised, commercial take on Me-Too. Instead, they got a meaningful documentary that would be taken seriously. Also, as an established production company they feared backlash from the industry which has been largely hostile towards survivors and sympathetic towards the men who were called out ever since the Me-Too movement.
Now, the film is stuck with the censors, and they won't pass it without cuts that would gut the entire message. Everyone's terrified of what might happen if the truth about patriarchy is told in this country.