Rajshri Deshpande on female actor naming other actors in accusation against Anurag Kashyap: I can’t tell anybody don’t do this, but don’t degrade – bollywood

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap being accused of sexual harassment by a female actor continues to make headlines. And while quite a lot of celebs have come out in his support, actor Rajshri Deshpande, having worked with him in Sacred Games and Choked, isn’t leaning too much on one side.

“I’m not writing this because I worked with @anuragkashyap72 in 2 projects. But I’m writing this so that I can listen to your voice,” she made her stance clear from her very first tweet in the thread. Her last tweet also saw her admitting that the film industry does have some flaws.

Elaborating on that, she tells us, “Flaws are everywhere, and not only the film industry. I was into advertising, studying law. I come from a small town, I know there are flaws everywhere. We’ve to clean everything up. I was addressing the Indian film industry as that’s where I’m now, but when I was in advertising, there were flaws there as well. We need to work on every field.” 

Deshpande also wrote, “If Anurag has done something wrong then we have a system to take action for it but if the acquisitions are false then MeToo mass movement will start crumbling and will lose its aim.”

The 37-year-old explains, “I’ve been working with rural villages and trafficked women since 10 years. I used to go to shelter homes in Mumbai and areas where trafficked women were kept, and talked to them about their journey. They’re still dealing with many issues. I’ve been to villages where a 13-year-old is still married off, so many people don’t have the voice. So, when something wrong comes out, the whole movement will fall. You have a voice, right, then you should know what to do with it. I feel an investigation should happen in every possible way.”

When asked about her experience of working with Kashyap, the actor calls it “great”, adding that the filmmaker is very a talented person and knows how to respect his actors.

“It’s a good set, all his assistants are amazingly talented. Again, I’m not looking at him as a director or anything. I definitely said I want to talk (to the girl who accused Kashyap) and listen. This #MeToo movement, agar thoda sa bhi kharab ho gaya na, it’ll fall. It’s so difficult for women to talk about it, they’ll not come out because of all these things,” she says.

Deshpande adds that she got many calls asking if she felt safe when working with Kashyap, maybe because the actor accusing Kashyap had named three other women, Richa Chadha, Mahie Gill and Huma Qureshi, claiming that Kashyap had given their examples while sexually assaulting her.

Reacting to this, Deshpande says, “Taking names of other actors is something really bad. You shouldn’t have done that. I’m no one to tell anyone don’t do this or that, that’s the reason it’s a question mark.I want to listen if you feel that way, but don’t degrade anyone.”