Neena Gupta on MeToo: Whether or not movement sustains, people will be wary of their actions

New Delhi: The most substantial impact of the #MeToo movement, which took off in India following actress Tanushree Dutta's sexual harassment allegations against actor Nana Patekar, is that people now will be wary of engaging in misconduct — whether or not the movement continues— says veteran actress Neena Gupta . [caption id=“attachment_5408571” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Neena Gupta. Image via Facebook[/caption] Asked if she feels the #MeToo wave will stay in India or whether it will die down, Neena told Indo-Asian News Service: “See, proving (an experience) is very difficult here. Right now, girls have got the strength to speak up, but those girls will say (take names) who have nothing to lose. “Girls who have still something to lose, will not be able to say. But I think whether (the movement) stays or fizzles out, people will be wary of doing anything of this sort now.” The #MeToo movement in India started after Tanushree in September recalled an unpleasant episode with veteran actor Nana Patekar from the sets of Horn OK Pleassss in 2008. After that, a slew of controversies surrounding Vikas Bahl , Chetan Bhagat , Gursimran Khamba , Kailash Kher , Rajat Kapoor and Alok Nath have emerged. Why did naming and shaming come so late in Bollywood? “That’s how it is. That’s how it works here. I say in conferences ‘I think it’s a curse to be born a woman in India, especially a poor woman’. Being a poor woman is a curse… It gives me so much pain when I see them,” she said. Asked if age is now detrimental for an actress’ career in Bollywood, Neena agreed and said that after a certain age, they don’t receive good offers. “There are not many roles. I always say that, ‘After a certain age, what is a woman’s role? Taking care of the family and home. After that there is no role’. When the society will change, I think we would have more roles on-screen.”