One of the best celebrity responses to the #MeToo in India has come from actor Anil Kapoor, whose daughter Sonam Kapoor was one of the first stars to speak out in support of Nana Patekar's accuser Tanushree Dutta. Mr Kapoor, who has two daughters as well as a son, said today that he shares his home with three independent women, has always said that women are 'superior' in every way and described the #MeToo movement as 'fantastic,' news agency ANI reports. Anil Kapoor did not, however, comment directly on Tanushree Dutta's allegations of harassment by Nana Patekar, an actor Mr Kapoor has worked with in movies such as Parinda and the Welcome series of films.
Speaking to the press today, Anil Kapoor said, "I have three women in my house and they're fiercely independent. I'm a listener and I think the world should also be a listener and listen to whatever they have to say. For me, girls are superior in every aspect and I have said that always. What is happening is fantastic," reports ANI.
The 62-year-old actor is married to Sunita Kapoor and the couple are parents to three children, all of who are part of the film industry - while Sonam Kapoor and Harshvardhan Kapoor are actors, the middle Kapoor sibling, Rhea, is a producer. Rhea Kapoor recently co-produced Veere Di Wedding with Ekta Kapoor while Harshvardhan was last seen in Bhavesh Joshi Superhero. Sonam and Anil Kapoor will co-star for the first time in the upcoming film Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To Aisa Laga. Sonam and Rhea also own a fashion label titled Rheson.
Anil Kapoor's nephew Arjun Kapoor has also spoken about #MeToo in Bollywood today saying that outed predators will now be treated as 'outcasts' and confirming that the industry had heard stories of filmmaker Vikas Bahl's alleged misconduct but couldn't do anything based on hearsay.
Nana Patekar denies that he harassed Tanushree Dutta on a film set 10 years ago; Ms Dutta has filed complaints with the police and the women's commission. Anil Kapoor's daughter Sonam and celebrities such as Twinkle Khanna, Farhan Akhtar and others posted tweets in support of Ms Dutta when she spoke of the alleged harassment two weeks ago - Ms Dutta had complained to a film body 10 years ago and was ignored.
I believe #TanushreeDatta and @janiceseq85 recollection of the account. Janice is my friend, and she is anything but an exaggerator or a liar. And it’s upto us to stand together. https://t.co/sF3mS5o1P8
— Sonam K Ahuja (@sonamakapoor) September 28, 2018
Vikas Bahl, accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2015, has sent his former Phantom Films partners Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane threatening to sue them for defamation unless they apologise for tweets in which they said they believed he was guilty of misconduct. Three actresses have also accused Mr Bahl of inappropriate behaviour - two of them, Kangana Ranaut and Nayani Dixit, were directed by Vikas Bahl in Queen.
Several celebrities appear to be more willing to condemn sexual harassment now that many more #MeToo stories apart from Tanushree Dutta's have emerged. Today, Amitabh Bachchan said in an interview transcript he tweeted, "No woman should ever be subjected to any kind of misbehaviour or disorderly conduct, especially at her workplace." Mr Bachchan, whose birthday it is today, had been widely criticised earlier for refusing to comment on Tanushree Dutta's allegations against Nana Patekar.
Apart from Nana Patekar and Vikas Bahl, other prominent film industry members such as Alok Nath and Kailash Kher have also been named as alleged sexual predators in separate #MeToo accounts.
Last seen in Fanney Khan, Anil Kapoor's next film is the aforementioned Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, which releases next year.
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