Rishabh Suri (HINDUSTAN TIMES; September 26, 2020)

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap being accused of sexual harassment by a female actor continues to make headlines. And while quite a lot of celebs have come out in his support, actor Rajshri Deshpande, having worked with him in Sacred Games and Choked, isn’t leaning too much on one side.

“I’m not writing this because I worked with @anuragkashyap72 in 2 projects. But I’m writing this so that I can listen to your voice,” she made her stance clear from her very first tweet in the thread. Her last tweet also saw her admitting that the film industry does have some flaws.

Elaborating on that, she tells us, “Flaws are everywhere, and not only the film industry. I was into advertising, studying law. I know there are flaws everywhere. We’ve to clean everything up.”

She also wrote, “If Anurag has done something wrong then we have a system to take action for it but if the accusations are false then #MeToo mass movement will start crumbling and will lose its aim.”

The 37-year-old explains, “I’ve been working in rural villages with trafficked women since 10 years. I used to go to shelter homes in Mumbai where trafficked women were kept. So many people don’t have the voice. You have a voice, right, then you should know what to do with it. I feel an investigation should happen in every possible way.”

When asked about her experience of working with Kashyap, the actor calls it “great”, adding that the filmmaker knows how to respect his actors.

Deshpande adds that she got many calls asking if she felt safe when working with Kashyap, maybe because the actor accusing Kashyap had named three other women, Richa Chadha, Mahie Gill and Huma Qureshi. “Taking names of other actors is something really bad. I’m no one to tell anyone don’t do this or that. I want to listen if you feel that way, but don’t degrade anyone.”