Konkona Sensharma BREAKS Silence On Caste Discrimination In Bollywood: 'Who Is Allowed To Sit, Eat What...'

Konkona Sensharma has made shocking revelations about the functions of Bollywood film sets. The actress has revealed that while the industry is hugely patriarchal, it is also discriminatory based on caste and class. Konkona said that a person’s caste and class dictate where they are allowed to sit and what food they are allowed to eat.

Speaking to Sucharita Tyagi on her YouTube channel, Konkona said, “The film set, the film industry, is hugely hierarchical, not just along the lines of women but also along the lines of caste and class and of course, gender. It’s hugely problematic, patriarchal, regressive, hierarchical.”

Konkona said that this discrimination is so ingrained that even topics like food are governed by one’s social standing. She said, “I mean, even in terms of catering. Who is allowed to sit where? Who is allowed to eat what? Where are the bathrooms? What people get away with?”

The actress said when it comes to women, only seniors get respect on film sets while the others are treated like ‘furniture’. “You know, if it’s not a very senior actor, like even a female person or the ADs, how they are treated in terms of… Their bodies are pushed. It’s the small things all the time you are seeing everywhere. It’s very difficult to work in that environment. It’s difficult to witness it, so I can’t even imagine how difficult it must be to go through it,” she said.

Konkona also mentioned how many instances of sexual harassment on film sets are unreported as the predators are highly respected individuals in the industry. Konkona’s revelations come in light of the findings of the Justice Hema Committee Report on the conditions of Malayalam film sets.

The committee was formed to investigate the issues related to sexual violence and gender equality in the Malayalam cinema industry and submit solutions to them. Amid these investigations, several actresses across the Indian film industry have spoken about how they were harassed on film sets. Konkona Sensharma, who has been a part of Bollywood for more than two decades, has come forward to talk about discrimination on Bollywood sets.