Kavita Awaasthi (HINDUSTAN TIMES; May 6, 2020)

In an effort to make an all-encompassing campaign to combat and address the sharp rise of domestic violence and mental health issues during Coronavirus lockdown, Bollywood and theatre celebrities came together in a video put together by Women in Films and Television India, to reiterate why no one should tolerate any form of abuse.

Richa, an advisory board member of WIFT India, headlined the campaign which features several artistes including Kalki Koechlin, Amyra Dastur, Mallika Dua, Pulkit Samrat, and Adil Hussain.

As videos of celebrities washing dishes, and cooking have gone viral in the last few months, here the artistes speak about how they have divided the chores of the house between themselves and their partner. For instance, Kalki can be seen talking about how she made breakfast while her partner took their dog for a walk; Adil, speaking in his native language, Assamese, discusses how he enjoys cooking. The video was circulated widely on social media and included voices from all over the country.

Richa says, “The agenda was to highlight the emotional stress people are going through and how that often leads to several things including domestic violence. This is a problem across the world, and a campaign like this effectively speaks to a wide audience. Women could possibly be trapped and locked down at home unable to muster the courage to report crimes against them. The elderly could be feeling particularly hopeless in such situations. We urge anyone going through trauma to take to counselling on the helpline numbers available.”

As more and more celebrities are talking about the need to create a well- rounded campaign to combat these issues, Richa feels this video is a major step in the right direction. She adds, “India is a diverse, fragmented society, so if a message has to reach everyone, it has to be done in multiple languages. Involving artistes of different states was consciously done to be able to create a larger impact and reach everyone across different cultural and socio-economic stratus.”