MUMBAI MIRROR (February 11, 2019)

Actress and former beauty queen Tanushree Dutta, who spearheaded the #MeToo movement in India, has been invited by the Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts, to speak at one of its flagship events on February 16. It is organised by graduate students.

In September 2018, Tanushree recounted an old accusation she had made against actor Nana Patekar for alleged sexual harassment on the sets of their 2008 film, Horn OK Pleasssss. Her case opened the floodgates for numerous other women from every walk of life to come forward with their own accusations which outed some big names. After sparking off the movement in India, Tanushree returned to the US earlier this year.

Sonil Dedhia (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 1, 2018)

His last appearance at the Harvard Business School in 2016 saw him stressing the importance of freedom of speech. Two years later, Kamal Haasan has been invited again as the keynote speaker at the annual India Conference at the prestigious university.

The superstar, who is taking a plunge into politics, tells mid- day that he will address the issues plaguing Tamil Nadu in his speech scheduled for February 10. “The topic is Tamil Nadu. I chose to speak on it out of sheer necessity. Our state has sunk to the lowest depths. It affects my dignity as a man, even more as a Tamilian,” says Hassan.

A few weeks away from announcing the name of his political party and beginning a state tour to familiarise himself with the people’s concerns, the superstar feels shedding light on the current scenario of Tamil Nadu on a platform such as this will lead to increased awareness. “I yearn to see my state rise to the height it deserves. The rise of my state will translate to the rise of my nation. Harvard is a seat of learning like our Nalanda University. If only we had continued that tradition without break, we would have been holding such seminars at least 200 years back. These platforms are important and cannot be neglected.”

Eager to have a discussion with like-minded people, Hassan says, “This is going to be an engagement with more fortunate minds who availed an opportunity to seek knowledge. A place that dispenses knowledge, for money or free, is still a seat of wisdom. Having their ears, even though only momentarily, is a great opportunity.”

Kangana Ranaut promises to bounce back from controversies as she prepares to speak at Harvard
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 16, 2017)

Even as her colleagues are planning their New Year getaway, Kangana Ranaut is prepping up to give a talk at the Harvard Business School. The actress has been invited to be a keynote speaker at the annual India Conference in February 2018. Following in the footsteps of Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, banker Chanda Kochhar and former Finance Minister P Chidambaran, she s will deliver two speeches on ‘The Changing Entertainment Landscape in India’ and ‘Disrupting the Indian Mainstream Cinema’.

Describing the invitation as a “big deal”, Kangana informs that she comes from a family of professors, engineers, pilots and doctors and is the only high school dropout. “There was a niggling worry at the back of my mind that what if my children sniggered, ‘What do you know?’ Education or the lack of it, and English which was once a roadblock to conversation makes me value such opportunities,” asserts the actress who has begged time off from the hectic schedule of her film, Manikarnika, to keep this date.

She is aware that it will require late night study but craves the intellectual stimulation. In October 2015, she’d rubbed shoulders with Oscar winner Meryl Streep at a summit in London, ‘Women Into the World’, and spoken about the entertainment industry’s obsession with trying to impose unrealistic images of women on screen and how she’d resisted the pressure to redefine the stereotype. “I had studied a lot then too and the knowledge has remained with me,” says Kangana, asserting that she will not paint a pessimistic picture of her country by dwelling on feudal systems, multiple religions and cultural shifts. “I will talk about new opportunities in the entertainment business that TV, digital platforms and streaming sites have brought in which I want to experiment with too. I want to point to films like Hindi Medium which merged the lives of disparate social hierarchies in a realistic rather than aspirational portrayal of society.”

She exults that it is heartening to see a film like this, which would earlier have been dismissed as off-beat and non-profitable, become a superhit and Irrfan Khan, who didn’t win a single popular award for his National Award-winning performance in Paan Singh Tomar, is walking home with trophies today. Remembering the young girl from the hills who a decade ago had debuted with Gangster’, labelled ‘parallel cinema and struggled to make her way up, Kangana says, “But today, even a girl with no connections can suddenly catapult into the big league on the strength of her acting skills. As my friend Prasoon Joshi says, the intellect of the consumer is way ahead of the creative and it’s time we caught up with what they want to see before we lose them to digital platforms.”

In the last year Kangana has been in the news for her war of words with Karan Johar, Saif Ali Khan and other Bollywood biggies on nepotism. On the cusp of a new year, she says that with that debate she has also managed to silence disgruntled relatives who’d earlier come with requests for jobs and been turned away. Now nobody approaches me because they know it’s wrong,” she laughs, pointing out that while some still cling to medieval mindsets, and pay disparity, gender issues are still an issue. it’s heartening that the reigning Miss World is from a small town in Haryana studying to be a doctor.

Today, as Hollywood reels under the onslaught of sexual allegations against A-list predators. Kangana who has been vocal on the subject, rues that not many understand the definition of sexual harassment back home. She gives the example of filmmaker Mukesh Bhatt who was recently quoted as saying, “I am not saying men have not been exploitative. They have been for centuries. But today’s woman is also not as simple as she pretends to be. But just as there are good men and bad men, there are women who are exploitative, cunning and also blatantly shameless to offer themselves.” While Bhatt later clarified that he was misquoted and misinterpreted and believes sexual harassment is not gender-specific, Kangana insists that the distinction between consensual sex and forced advances is still a grey area for many. “A woman can offer herself to any and as many men as she wants but that doesn’t give anyone the right to force himself on her. Also, while a sexual offender should be shamed into not repeating the offense with others, I believe a young girl on the treshhold of a bright career shouldn’t be pushed into speaking up and getting kicked out. It’s better to play safe and open up when she can make a difference like many of these actresses in Hollywood are today,” she reasons.

Kangana admits that her frank speak and run-ins with Hrithik Roshan, Karan Johar, Apurva Asrani, Aditya Pancholi, Shekhar and Adhyayan Suman, coupled with two back-to-back flops, Rangoon and Simran, have put her on a back foot professionally. “The offers haven’t slowed but my commercial viability has been affected. The endorsements are fewer, my earnings are down and my plan to open my own production house has had to be pushed. But I have signed three films, have a beautiful house in Manali now and an office on Pali Hill and I’m going to Harvard so don’t write me off just yet,” she smiles. “I don’t want my life to become a cautionary tale but an inspiration for young girls and for that I will survive and succeed.”

DNA (February 2, 2015)

That Aamir Khan’s alien look and performance in PK has garnered a lot of appreciation in India is common knowledge. The box-office numbers (Rs 300 crore) speak itself. And now we hear his impressive act has got none other than Harvard Business School calling. Yes, the prestigious university has invited Aamir to discuss about his role at length. Says a source, “They are very keen to know about the preparation and portrayal of his character in the film. Aamir has not yet fixed a date with them but they have requested him to come in March and he is trying to work it out.” Way to go!