Veteran television producer Vinta Nanda, who was among the first women to break their silence and amplify the MeToo movement in the film industry a couple of years ago, slammed ace filmmaker Imtiaz Ali for his recent statement on women`s safety during the 55th IFFI International Film Festival in Goa.
Vinta Nanda was one of the earliest female celebrities to come out with her MeToo story, along with actress Tanushree Dutta in 2018. She had accused actor Alok Nath of sexual harassment and rape in the 90s.
Vinta Nanda asks who selected Imtiaz Ali to speak for women
Vinta’s note on Instagram read, “Imtiaz Ali should stop pontificating about what women face in the entertainment industry. Naturally, Kareena Kapoor is safe because she is privileged. And, he surely must know that the casting couch exists! Why has IFFI Goa selected him to speak on behalf of women? Is it to whitewash the truth? If men like him had the courtesy to abstain from speaking on a subject they have no experience about, one will believe that change is indeed taking place.”
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She wrote in the caption, “It’s shocking to see reports of @imtiazaliofficial making all sorts of statements about women’s issues on an important industry platform like @iffigoa With zero experience, he should have abstained from speaking instead.”
What Imtiaz Ali said at IFFI
Imtiaz Ali recalled how Kareena Kapoor felt safe on the sets of ‘Jab We Met’. He shared, “Kareena was ready for the shot and on the top berth in a railway compartment. She had to mumble in her sleep in the scene, and we needed extra lights on the berth. I asked her to come down until the crew members finished putting the light on. She said that I would keep lying there and they could just put the light on.
“Three men went up and put it while standing on the lower berth where she was lying down. I asked her, ‘Are you sure and comfortable?’ She didn’t understand what my problem was. She said, ‘Abhi kon utrega aur phir chadhega!’ And that’s because she felt so safe with those three men hovering over her to put the light on. Nobody looked at her wrong in any way,” Imtiaz added.
