Actors also use their sexuality to get things done: Ekta Kapoor
Mumbai: Indian film and television personality Ekta Kapoor says there are powerful producers who use their position to exploit aspirants in showbiz, but then there are also actors who use their sexuality to get work.
Ekta made the comment amid the hullabaloo over sexual harassment allegations that emerged across showbiz globally after several names in Hollywood came out against producer Harvey Weinstein, followed by complaints against a slew of actors and filmmakers.
She was present along with actress Nimrat Kaur on Mirror Now's show "The Town Hall", hosted by journalist Barkha Dutt. She was asked if a Harvey Weinstein also exists in Bollywood, and if the #MeToo campaign has helped women come out with their story in the entertainment industry.
Ekta said: "Well, I think there are Harvey Weinstein in Bollywood, but there is probably an equal number of Harvey Weinstein on the other side of the story, but people do not want to talk about that part. Yes, there are people in power like producers who use their power to take advantage of people, but at the same time there are people on the other side, like an actor or others who need the job, would also use their sexuality to get things done.
"Therefore, I believe that predators should not be put in a box based on power. It is always not true that the person who does not have power is the victim,.
Citing an example, Ekta said: "Being a producer, on a personal level when I talk to my male counterparts, they said they were propositioned blatantly. Is that person not a predator?
"In our industry, if one actor meets a producer at 2 a.m. and hooks up with him and after five days, if she wants a job based on that and the producer doesn't give the job because he wants personal and professional things separate, then who is the victim here? The interpretation is always that the powerful person took advantage of the poor little budding actor or something that is always not the truth."
Ekta's father Jeetendra was earlier this month accused of sexually harassing his cousin, who came forward to file a police complaint 47 years after the alleged incident. Jeetendra dubbed the charges as "baseless," and a "miserable effort by a jealous competitor to disrupt his business activities."
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Congress names candidates for 8 Haryana LS seats, fields Kumari Selja, Deepender Hooda
Chandigarh (PTI): The Congress on Thursday announced candidates for eight of the nine Lok Sabha seats it is contesting in Haryana, fielding former Union minister Kumari Selja, Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda and youth leader Divyanshu Budhiraja, besides two sitting MLAs.
The party has also fielded former MP Jai Prakash and leaders Satpal Brahmachari and Mahendra Pratap, according to the list released late Thursday evening.
The Congress is contesting nine of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana. It has not yet announced its candidate for the Gurugram constituency.
The Aam Aadmi Party, a constituent of the opposition INDIA bloc, will contest the Kurukshetra seat.
Congress general secretary and former Union minister Selja will contest from the Sirsa (reserved) seat and sitting MLAs Varun Choudhary and Rao Dan Singh from the Ambala (reserved) and the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Lok Sabha seats, respectively.
Deepender Hooda, son of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, will enter the fray from Rohtak. He has represented the Rohtak parliamentary constituency three times in the past.
Jai Prakash has been fielded from Hisar, the Congress' Haryana youth wing president Divanshu Budhiraja from Karnal, Satpal Brahmachari from Sonipat and Mahendra Pratap from Faridabad.
