Justice@MeToo

Mona

A picture speaks a thousand words; the adage came true as people woke up to hear that the once Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was moved to jail on Tuesday.

The breakfast at Four Seasons and immediate trip to hospital do not undermine the verdict — guilty of a criminal sex act in 2006 and a third-degree rape in 2013. “The sky is blue again,” said actress Academy Award and Golden Globe actress Mira Sorvino. At a time when the world was about to write off #MeToo as more of a social propaganda, Weinstein’s conviction offers a ray of hope.

Courage to speak

The Accidental Prime Minister actress Suzanne Bernert sees the development as not cut and dry, as he can still appeal. “But he sure is under stress considering his immediate trip to hospital post the verdict,” she says.

MeToo movement sure changed the dynamics even in India where most of accused were let off sans any real punishments. “MeToo sure gave actresses courage to say ‘no, you cannot touch me’ or ‘you cannot make me uncomfortable’ rather than sit in the corner and cry,” shares the German actress, who wonders how she had it all good in her decade-and-a-half long innings in Hindi film and television industry. “May be my blue eyes scared people or something else, but never was I directly prepositioned or made uncomfortable.”

Fair & square

While the credit goes to the two women who stood the public trial and got Weinstein to book, it’s the lack of evidence that made Indian MeToo accused get away. “I feel before blaming someone of sexual assault on social media, one should rather go to the police and have evidence in place – some witness, a screenshot – anything to support their claim as posts on social media can level up to nothing real,” says Bernert.

Film director Jagmeet Samundri, who is currently shooting a horror movie, also points towards the difference in the legal systems of US and India. “There no individual is above the law, here, however, one can circumnavigate one’s way.” While Bernert wouldn’t agree to that, she asserts, “It’s not that in India no wrong-doer is brought to book; all you need is evidence to support your claim.”

Prerna Kalra, who investigates POSH (prevention of sexual harassment) cases, says, “We are on way to fair investigations, but not there yet. Many times, women in our country give up the fight, as they do not want to make their families uncomfortable.”

As Weinstein awaits sentencing on March 11, here’s to the two who stood the test of time to make this world a better place!

Have the accused been let off?

• The internal complaints committee of M/s Mukesh Chhabra Casting Company and the Federation of Western India Cine Employees did not find casting director Mukesh Chhabra guilty and reinstated him as the director for Kizie Aur Manny.
• Phantom Films was dissolved; Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane washed their hands off with partner Vikas Bahl, but right before Super 30 he got his directorial credit back after being let off by the internal complaints committee of Reliance Entertainment.
• Alok Nath’s ‘sanskari’ tag came under fire in the heat of #MeToo, but only to be forgotten and forgiven with him being back on screens with De De Pyar De.
• In a molestation case lodged by actress Tanushree Dutta against Nana Patekar, he was given a clean chit due to no evidence to prosecute him.
• Accusations against artist Subodh Gupta via an anonymous Instagram account led to much drama, but it was finally settled amicably out of court.
• Sajid Khan stepped down as director of Housefull 4 as Indian Film & Television Directors’ Association suspended him for a year.

Accusers welcome conviction

Accusers of disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein have welcomed the guilty verdicts in the rape and sexual assault case against the former Hollywood mogul. Actress Rose McGowan told the BBC “this is a great day” while others said the ruling brought hope to victims that their voices would be heard. Weinstein faces up to 25 years in prison. As many as 80 women had accused him of sexual misconduct stretching back decades, including actresses Gwyneth Paltrow, Uma Thurman and Salma Hayek. Most of those complaints, however, have not led to criminal charges, as they are beyond the statute of limitations — meaning they happened too long ago. The allegations were at the centre of the #MeToo movement that prompted women to go public with misconduct allegations against powerful men. IANS

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