'Casting couch everywhere, Parliament not immune', says Congress party's Renuka Chowdhary

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Renuka Chowdhary today said the hallowed halls of Parliament aren't immune to the casting couch mentality.

Her comment came in response to statements earlier in the day by a Hindi film choreographer, Saroj Khan, who said the casting couch mentality is rampant in her industry.

"It is not just in the film industry. It (casting couch) happens everywhere and it is the bitter truth. Don't imagine that Parliament is immune or other work places are immune to it. It is time that India stood up and said, 'Me Too'", said the Congress's Chowdhary.

'Me Too' is a movement to end sexual assault. It spread rapidly on social media starting last October, after US actor Alyssa Milano encouraged women to tweet about their experiences with sexual harassment and assault - as in, 'Me Too' -- to "give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem".

Earlier today, Hindi film choreographer Khan also spoke of the casting couch. She had a take on it that was a lot different from Chowdhary's. She acknowledged that the mentality has existed in Bollywood for decades now, "but at least it provides a livelihood."

Khan further said, someone or the other is always trying to take advantage of women. She said the government does so too, so it isn't just the film industry that should be seen as a villain.

Another film industry member didn't take kindly to Khan's comments. Sri Reddy, an actor from the Telugu Film Industry, said she's lost respect for Khan, a senior film personality.

Reddy herself went on a crusade earlier this month to protest omen being taken advantage of in the Telugu film industry. She staged a dharna outside the Movie Artistes' Association (MAA) headquarters 'Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce' in Film Nagar, Hyderabad, vowing not to budge until she got a solution. And when no one paid any attention, she stripped in the middle of the road, and sat down in protest bare-chested.

"This is the only way I can get them to listen to me. I have had to strip myself nude in front of several people in the film industry who promised work. Yet, I got no roles. I have been shouting from the rooftops about the injustice that has been meted out to me and to several other women in the film industry and yet, I have not got any response from MAA. So I decided to strip publicly," said Reddy.

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