“Needs to be said,” South Indian actress Varalaxmi Sarathkumar tweeted last week. Her post included a screenshot letter, in which she revealed her experience with sexual harassment in the Indian film industry, describing it as the “tip of the iceberg.” After being told repeatedly that harassment is just an occupational hazard in acting, she decided to go public.
Sarathkumar wrote, “I love acting. It’s my profession of choice. I work hard and I’m good at my work.” She continued, “I certainly do not want to choose either option of ‘Put up with it or quit.’ As a woman I now see only one choice. To resist and speak out.”
In her post, Sarathkumar detailed a meeting she had with a top TV exec that ended with him propositioning her. “Towards the end of the half hour meeting, he asked me, ‘So when can we meet outside?,’” she recalled. “To which I replied, ‘Regarding some other work?’ His answer (said with a smug smile like it was the norm): ‘No, no! Not work… For other things.’”
The TV channel head might have acted as if his behavior was acceptable, but Sarathkumar’s post makes clear that these types of interactions are not normal. They are sexist, intimidating, and manipulative.
Speaking to BBC Trending, Sarathkumar commented, “Women in the film industry have accepted the fate of the ‘casting couch.’” She added, “When I spoke to people about my experience they said, ‘But, the film industry is this way, why did you enter it?’ But I and the other actresses in the industry have entered it because we’re passionate about acting. I don’t think it means if you’re passionate about acting you have to sleep with someone.”
While Sarathkumar was referencing her experiences in the Indian film industry specifically, her story is universal. Actresses all over the world have dealt — and are dealing — with harassment from higher-ups who abuse their power. Ashley Judd, for example, was harassed by a media mogul for years. “It went on in these stages,” the “Divergent” franchise actress described. “He physically lured me by saying, ‘Oh, help me pick out what I’m going to wear.’ There was a lot that happened between the point of entry and the bargaining. There was this whole process of bargaining — ‘Come do this, come do this, come do this.’ And I would say, ‘No, no no.’”
According to BBC Trending, Sarathkumar’s tweet was published “two days after the alleged abduction and rape of a fellow popular Indian actress in the southern Indian state of Kerala. The actress, who has not been named, told police that she had been attacked inside her car by three strangers who flagged down her vehicle as she was being driven to work.” The attack provoked outrage on social media and resulted in a rally.
Recognizing the unique position high-profile actors hold, Sarathkumar observed, “No woman should be violated the way she was.” She continued, “When something happens to a celebrity, justice is immediate. The police find the culprits immediately, the verdicts are passed really, really fast. But if it happens to a laywoman, it takes twice as long.”
As such, it appears the “Podaa Podi” actress is determined to use her status to make sure this issue is addressed for all women. Trending writes that Sarathkumar is “campaigning, organizing her own rally in [the eastern Indian city] Chennai on [March 8], International Women’s Day, in order to raise awareness and demand tougher punishments for those who harass women in India.”
“In India, although we say we’re liberal, we’re not there yet,” Sarathkumar explained. “Women are taught that if anything goes wrong, we are supposed to feel ashamed of it. It’s the mindset that we have to change.”
Read Sarathkumar’s entire “Needs to be said” message below.
Needs to be said..!!
