Rajkumar Hirani is the latest Bollywood celebrity to have been hit by the #MeToo wave
One of Bollywood's most respected and loved filmmakers Rajkumar Hirani has been implicated in sexual harassment allegations in a #MeToo account by a co-worker at his production house Rajkumar Hirani Films Private Limited. The woman has alleged that Hirani abused her over a period of six months, between March and September 2018, during the filming of 'Sanju'. The news has left the entire industry and his fans in a state of shock.
However, Hirani has denied all the allegations levelled against him. Several Bollywood celebs like Boney Kapoor, Sharman Joshi, Arshad Warsi and Dia Mirza have also come forward to extend solidarity with him.
While charges against him haven't been proved yet, a few Twitter users were quick to point out how the director made misogynistic dialogues the new normal in Bollywood. Through his films, Hirani (perhaps unintentionally) normalized sexist notions that activists around the globe have been trying to dismantle since decades.
Here's a look at 5 of his most famous dialogues that we all should be guilty of laughing at:
1. 'Where is the Mangalsutra'?
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In one particular scene, Sonam Kapoor Ahuja’s character, Ruby is shown to be grossly humiliated by Sanjay Dutt in an inebriated state. However despite the mortification, Ruby, on the next morning, says that Dutt must not come to know about the incident, because ‘he will be hurt’.
That these scenes made it to the film, is not what's problematic because 'Sanju' after all was based on a real person's life and there was no reason for Rajkumar Hirani to have edited out such saleable facts of his life story but what's troublesome was it's treatment.
2. When ‘Chamatkaar’ became ‘Balaatkaar’
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In 2009, the whole nation laughed over a scene where ‘Chamatkaar’ became ‘Balaatkaar’ (rape) in pun play. The scene trivialised a crime as grave as rape to a laughing stock.
3. The curious case of Sanjay Dutt's missing girlfriends
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Ranbir Kapoor, who plays the titular role in Rajkumar Hirani's Sanjay Dutt biopic titled 'Sanju', has a scene in the film, where he talks about the women in his life. "Prostitutes ko ginun ya? Nai unko alag rakhta hun. 308 tak yaad hai. Chalo aap safety ke liye 350 likhlo," a rather nonchalant Ranbir tells Anushka Sharma (who plays the role of Winnie Dias, his biographer) on being asked about the number of women he has slept with apart from Manyata Dutt, his third and present wife.
The scene became an instant hit amongst the cine-lovers since the time it first appeared in the trailer of the film. Throughout 'Sanju', Hirani made repeated attempts at making light of Sanjay's womanising ways. The audience, with equal comfort, embraced the portrayal of toxic masculinity.
4. “Gheechay To Ghapa Ghap Chay"
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“Gheechay To Ghapa Ghap Chay… Translate Kar… Ghee Matlab Paisa… Or Ghapa Ghap… Sex.” (If you have money, you have sex)
It basically summed up the belief that a woman will sleep with any person, given that he is rich. At the end of the scene, Sanju tells his friend Kamli (played by Vicky Kaushal) that, "Ek Chokri Udaar Hai Tere Pe." With this one statement, he reduced a woman's status to a mortgageable 'item'.
5. Apparenly it's 'cool' to sleep with your bestfriend's girlfriend
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There's a scene in the film where Sanju displays his womanising skills by sleeping with his best friend Kamli's (played by Vicky Kaushal) only girlfriend Pinky (Karishma Tanna). In his explanation, he later says that he did it just to check the woman's 'character'.
