:: Shobhaa De

The master and the maid

Shobhaa’s Take

June.20 : The guy’s had it! That’s what we are saying today, when the scandal is red hot and journos are going nuts. The story so far is pretty simple: Good-looking actor attacks helpless maid when the wife is out. Maid cries "rape". Cops pick up the actor. Actor weeps and says it was consensual sex. Wife decides to "stand by her man", Hillary Clinton-style. Maid adds a death threat to the original charge. Shiney cools his heels in the lock-up. Hides his face. Weeps some more. Industrywallas distance themselves. Several skeletons start rattling in Bollywood cupboards. What happens next depends on two factors: 1) Shiney’s standing within his fraternity. 2) Maid’s ability to activate the activists. About the first, Shiney has everything going against him. He is not a star son. He has not aligned himself to any camp. He is not the hero of big-budget blockbusters and, therefore, does not have crores riding on him. And mainly, he is not liked by Bollywood. After this incident, he will be instantly and gleefully banished by those who hated his guts in the first place. About the maid, well… she is in a far better position vis-à-vis society at large. If Shiney has indeed raped her, she deserves all that can be done to make sure she gets justice. But she will have to be very cautious while dealing with all the overnight "do-gooders" who’ll rush to her side sensing an opportunity to make money. It boils down to just that — money and influence. Since Shiney does not possess too much of either, he can kiss the tatters of his career goodbye. Shiney is dead meat. A Bollywood pariah. The pity is that Shiney happens to be one of our better actors. It is being said he was being tapped for an important role in a Hollywood film. What terrible timing!

The perverse part of this morality tale is how Bollywood has chosen to keep mum. The reason is simple — by protecting Shiney, nobody makes money. By shunning him, nobody loses money. Matlab ki baat hai. If proved guilty, Shiney won’t be the first "rapist" in this dirty business, and he certainly won’t be the last. Bollywood is full of rogues and these ruthless men think nothing of exploiting needy women. There are stories galore of powerful, prominent heroes forcing themselves on alarmingly young back-up dancers (those nubile girls in skimpy costumes who are hired by the shift by producers) and threatening them later. It is part and parcel of "herogiri", and no eyebrows are raised. Some actors often see this as a perk of the job — something to kill time between shots. The whole unit is in the know, and I suspect so are the wives and girlfriends who prefer to look the other way.

If the charges are proved true, then Shiney would not be the only man in Bollywood to have forced himself on a hapless woman. Whether it is big-time producers, directors, cameramen, music composers… even sidey actors, women are fair game. This is hardly a secret. It is only when the woman goes public with the sorry episode that Bollywood makes a few token noises before silencing her. The men are let off after a fake show of concern for the girl. Most times she is the one who stands to lose everything. For starters, Bollywood men genuinely believe every woman is "game". The arrogance is astonishing. And sadly enough, many of these starlets play ball in the vain hope that they will get noticed… get roles. Of course, it doesn’t work like that… but who’s to tell them?

When forced sex across the class barrier becomes a full-blown scandal, that’s when the Big Boys of Bollywood close ranks and slink away. Had Shiney belonged to an influential lobby, aligned himself to a politician, or been the star of a string of commercially-successful films, one or two phone calls to the right people would have sorted out the current mess. But Shiney has always been a fringe player. His choice of films was unconventional, and he didn’t conform to Bollywood’s strange code of sycophancy requiring newbie actors to suck up to all those mighty producers and seniors. He was a loner, often described as "arrogant" and "difficult" because he "interfered" on the sets and didn’t socialise with the rest — nor flirt with the leading lady. What an oddball, said the others, suspicious of this great-looking outsider who refused to blend in. These "eccentricities" will be held against him as the case builds up. If it builds up.

Remember how rapidly the public lost interest in Madhur Bhandarkar when Preeti Jain accused the director of "repeatedly" raping her? Most people don’t know and don’t care what happened to Mamata Kulkarni’s sister (or even to Mamata, for that matter) after she accused Anupam Kher of trying to molest her. What about Jackie Shroff? Aditya Pancholi and Pooja Bedi’s underage maid? Rajesh Khanna? Several others in the same league who could have been sailing in the same boat as Shiney, but got bachaoed because they leveraged their positions? Shiney will be thrown to the wolves once the press loses interest in his case. In India, our attitude towards rape is shockingly callous. Many men do not consider rape a crime "as such". Meaning, they believe it is not all that serious in the first place. Had it not been a maid, but a Bollywood actress or a prominent socialite in her place, interest levels in the case would have outlived the summer. Shiney is not Salman Bhai, or Sanju Baba. Who gives a damn?

But as of now, my guess is that Shiney’s lawyer will only have to work on shooting down the maid’s story and branding her a liar. Rape is extremely hard to prove. The big mistake a rape victim generally makes is to first wash herself and change her clothes. It is a spontaneous reaction to the deep revulsion, sense of violation and defilement that the victim feels. She automatically rushes to "cleanse" herself, effectively washing away all evidence. This weakens the case still further. However, Shiney’s maid did not commit this mistake and the police claim to have sufficient material to nail the guy. In similar situations, Bollywood actors arrogantly rely on star-power to save their butts. With star-power comes political clout — Bollywood feeds off its Delhi connections and Delhi uses the same people to jolly the crowds during elections. It is a cosy relationship that works for both. But Shiney is not in that league. He is a relative nobody with zero connections. His wife may claim it’s a frame-up. But for what? Money? How much can Shiney cough up in the first place?

Experts are saying (incongruously enough) that men are at a disadvantage in our system, since courts show more sympathy towards the victim who may falsely implicate a known person. Shiney is a known person. He seems disturbed and in need of psychiatric help. Internationally, too, it is not uncommon to come across famous men with looks, money and power forcing themselves on young, vulnerable girls. It is a recognised disease… also known as the Boris Becker Syndrome. Shiney needs help. Psychiatric help. So does the maid.

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