PeeCee To Kangana Ranaut, 5 Actors Who Called Out Toxic Culture In Bollywood

While Bollywood, the Hindi film industry, is one of the largest film industries in the world and known for producing some of the most glamorous and successful films, it has also been under scrutiny for its toxic work culture, which has been brought to light by several actors over the years.

These five actors have played an important role in bringing attention to the toxic culture in Bollywood. They have used their platform to raise awareness about issues such as nepotism, harassment and gender biases.

Priyanka Chopra

Actor Priyanka Chopra, the recipient of two National Film Awards and a Padma Shri, moved to Hollywood eight years back and has appeared in five Hollywood ventures, recently spoke about being “cornered” in Bollywood. In an interview with Dax Shepherd on his podcast, Armchair Expert, the actor said, “I was being pushed into a corner in the industry (Bollywood). I had people not casting me, I had beef with people, and I am not good at playing that game, so I kind of was tired of the politics and I said I needed a break.”

“This music thing gave me an opportunity to go into another part of the world, not crave for the movies I didn't want to get, but I would require to schmooze certain clubs and cliques of people. It would require grovelling and I had worked a long time by then that I didn't feel like I wanted to do it. So when this music thing came I was like 'fu** it I'm going to America',” she further said.

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Kangana Ranaut

Actor Kangana Ranaut might have been in the news for mostly wrong reasons in the past few years, she has been vocal about the toxic culture in Bollywood. She began calling out nepotism and favouritism in the industry in filmmaker Karan Johar’s popular reality show Koffee With Karan by directly calling him out in his own show. Since then she hasn’t taken a back seat and resurfaced the discussion after the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput and even when Chopra recently spoke about Bollywood. In an interview, she said, "There's a lot of groupism, favouritism and nepotism in Bollywood. People can't even think of stepping out of their comfort zone."

Tanushree Dutta

Tanushree Dutta is a former Miss India and Bollywood actor who opened up about the harassment and bullying she faced on the sets of a film in 2008. She accused veteran actor Nana Patekar of harassing her during the shooting of a song sequence. She also claimed that the producers of the film tried to intimidate her and were complicit in the harassment. Her allegations sparked a national conversation about the prevalent culture of harassment in Bollywood.

Swara Bhasker

Actor Swara Bhasker, who has been outspoken about gender biases and prejudices not only in the industry but in issues prevalent in society as well, has called out the objectification of women and the lack of opportunities for female actors in Bollywood. She has also criticised the practice of casting couch and the exploitation of aspiring actors. In a panel discussion on Harvey Weinstein, the actor opened up about being sexually harassed by a director but realising it only after six to eight years that it was a “predatory” behaviour.

Kalki Koechlin

In the wake of the #MeToo movement, back in 2018, BBC made a documentary titled ‘Fighting sexual harassment in Bollywood’ where they asked Kalki Koechlin “why women in Bollywood are not speaking about sexual harassment”. In the video, Kalki spoke about how the industry people don’t pay heed to the struggling newcomers in the industry and hence a lot of women avoid speaking on the topic as their careers are at stake. “People don’t listen to you if you’re a nobody. If you’re a celebrity and you talk about it, it only becomes a shocking headline,” she said.

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Richa Chadha

Richa Chadha is another actor from the industry who has been vocal about issues both inside and outside the Bollywood industry fearlessly. In an interview with Pinkvilla, Richa spoke about facing sexism and the casting couch in the industry. She mentioned an incident where she was ‘suggestively’ asked out for dinner and how it was insisted upon despite rejecting the proposal many times.