It’s all about power and the entitlement to misuse it: Sreelekha Mitra

Actor speaks about rampant sexual harassment in Indian cinema, its normalisation across regional industries, and her personal encounters with abuse.

Sreelekha Mitra says the Indian film industry has witnessed a #MeToo movement. | Photo Credit: Jayanta Shaw

Renowned Bengali actor Sreelekha Mitra has long been an outspoken critic of the alleged misogyny and patriarchal attitude prevalent in the Indian film industry. The star of such hits such as Hothat Brishti (1998), Kantatar (2006), Aschorjo Pradip (2014) and others, once again caused a stir when, in the wake of the Hema Committee Report, she alleged that well-known director of the Malayalam film industry Ranjith, had behaved inappropriately with her in 2009. Mitra, who is a well-known artiste of both television and cinema, had in the past, also called out several big names in the Bengali film industry and had lashed out against nepotism and harassment of women in the industry. “I did not get any work after that,” she told Frontline in an exclusive interview, in which she talked extensively about the “dark corners”of the film and television world. Excerpts:

Your allegations against Ranjith created quite a stir and once again brought to the fore certain ills long associated with the Indian film industry, viz exploitation of women, the proprietorial attitude of powerful men towards women in the industry, a long-standing patriarchal system, etc. Has there been a backlash following your allegations?

Since the matter is currently under police investigation, I will probably not be able to say much about it. It happened in 2009 when I was called for the said film being made by the said director; Mr. Joshy Joseph mediated the entire proceedings. As I have been repeating for the past two weeks now: It wasn’t a sexual assault per se; it was more like he was testing the waters. The intent was inappropriate. I was completely new in that particular State and in that area, with people I didn’t know. I got back the next day. Back then social media had not become as powerful as it is now. I narrated the entire incident to Mr Joshy Joseph and after coming back I spoke about it with my ex-husband. I thought I had put a lid on it because this manner of objectifying women in society has always been there.

As far as the film industry goes, it’s not like I am the only one who is raising these issues. Many tried to voice their anger before but were either silenced or were too scared to take names of the abusers. The problem is that this is very normalised in our industry. When the #MeToo movement took place in Hollywood, Pooja Bhatt and I had spoken about it in India. We thought it would take time for the movement to take place here but it has happened now. However, whenever you speak the truth, there are bound to be repercussions. I am ready for it. But yes, such things are rampant in the industry and come in different disguises.

And there are bound to be backlashes particularly when I have taken the names of some very powerful people, including the ones in Kolkata. It’s all about power and the entitlement of the powerful to misuse their power. Mr. Ranjith happens to be one such powerful person but I really have nothing to lose. I don’t want favours from anybody. I’m not scared of not getting any work because they have stopped giving me work for quite some time now. But I am still standing. I have no problems looking after my daily needs and taking care of my four dogs and a cat.

Even recently, when I participated in the protest against the rape and murder at R.G. Kar Medical College, Trinamool [Congress’] IT cell began to slut-shame me and put up old videos of me hosting a party at my own house two years ago. Even a female journalist close to the ruling party launched an attack against me. This misogyny is not just among men but women also. Many influential women in the industry also keep quiet because they will expose themselves and the compromises they have made if they speak out. It is a matter of who is more powerful.

You have worked in many film industries—the Odiya film industry, Bengali, Malayam, and Mumbai—and have done extensive work on television. Is this exploitative and abusive attitude universal?

Yes, it is. I started my career in the Odiya film industry and back then I was a student, and my dad being a protective father used to accompany me to outdoor [shoots]. Also, since I was a Bengali who had travelled to work there, I was treated with respect in Odisha. I never faced any problems in the Odisha and Mumbai film industries. I had done a Malayalam film with Prithviraj Sukumaran, which was fine. My second Malayalam film was to be with Mr Ranjith but the initiating process was not right.

Women have a sixth sense in these matters, and I didn’t get the right vibe and I excused myself from the film. I know if I had allowed him to carry on playing with my bangles, touching my hair, and my neck, things would have gone further but I put a stop to that. After that, I never got another call. In fact, my worst experience has been in the Bengali film industry. I remember a television producer who had this fetish of taking measurements of the vital stats of all his actresses. When he tried to do the same with me, I ran away. You see, initially, the women in the early days of Indian cinema, were mainly courtesans, like Noti Binodini. They were not considered respectable then and were perceived as “characterless women”. It became a norm to treat them like “fallen women.” Somewhere at the back of the mind that attitude seems to persist. The film industry has dark corners.

An actor has to be in a relationship with a powerful individual to survive in the film world, says Sreelekha.   | Photo Credit: Jayanta Shaw

In 2020, after Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, you spoke of these dark corners in your YouTube channel, where you called out some of the biggest names in the Bengali film industry, including stars, directors, producers, and even production houses. How did that affect you later?

I did not get any work after that. When the CPI(M) was in power, I was never seen with the political leaders then simply because there was nothing I wanted from them. I was here to do my bit as an actor and to work with dignity. My father had been a CPI(M) party member ever since I could remember and that was a very big thing in my life as far as values were concerned. I never spoke about my political views at that time, and when Trinamool came to power [in 2011], I never aligned myself with the new ruling party. But I was still working then and was able to stay afloat. At that time, I had gone through my separation and was starting my life afresh.

When work stopped happening even after I had given back-to-back hits, I understood, that you have to have a relationship with someone powerful in the industry, like a producer or a director or a hero—heroes always call the shots, and back then, Prosenjit (Chatterjee) whom I had named in my video, called the shots. But I was never a part of their lobby. Moreover, if I wanted to enter into a relationship, it would not be for any ulterior motive. At that time, when I was trying to begin afresh, and not getting any work, just getting up and doing the basic things of life had become a humungous task for me. At one time, I even thought of ending my life. Recently, a friend who is a production house executive told me that to survive here one needs to have a good PR. I always thought my work was my PR.

Despite a few big hits, several of which came while the CPI(M) was still in power, and several awards and critically acclaimed performances, you never attained the level of stardom that everyone thought you would. Why do you think that happened?

 I never considered myself to be a star and always thought of myself to be an actor. I took whatever came my way and went with the flow. Maybe it was my lack of knowledge. I can’t say that society was against me and blame everybody else. But whatever I have achieved, it is through my own sweat and toil. Tell me one other person in the industry, who took names like I did. Nobody would dare because they knew they would not get any work. It’s like a syndicate. Not just in Bengal but everywhere in the country. If you try to unmask Bollywood, then you’re gone.

Did you have any support from any section in the Bengali film industry?

No.

Not even one single person?

No.