Sexy Image, Respect guranteed or Not?

Bipasha Basu : "I deserve respect"

Yesterday, news channels across the country splashed the story of Bipasha Basu being molested while in America.

According to the reports, Bipasha was to attend an India Day parade in Edison Township, New Jersey when two of the organisers misbehaved with her. She then came on stage and accused them of harassing her physically and mentally on the way to the function.

When we spoke to Bipasha yesterday, she explained that she wasn't molested. Instead, she was put off by the rude behaviour of the organisers.

What happened?

Bipasha was scheduled to lead the India Day parade as Grand Marshall, an event organised by the Indian Business Association, on August 13. She arrived late at the parade, which was flagged off at 3 pm.

Before the parade reached the venue, Bipasha appeared on stage and explained the delay. She apparently said, "I wanted to attend the parade, but I could not."

She was in the middle of explaining her reasons for not turning up for the parade, when the organisers tried to cut her speech short. But Bipasha is not the type to be deterred.

In her gutsy style, she continued, "I come from a profession that deserves respect. I deserve respect," she said. At this point, one of the organisers intervened, and she stopped speaking.

Badly organised

When we contacted Bipasha, this is what she had to say. "I think everyone has gone mad making a mountain out of a molehill. It was a badly organised event and two people spoke to me very badly. I said on stage that people should start respecting women from every walk of life. Period."

She sounded exhausted, "I am in Los Angeles and am going to sleep right now. I am fed up of all that's happening."

Not guilty till proven

Satish Poondi, a spokesperson for the Indian Business Association, said in the media that the organisation would take Bipasha's allegation very seriously. But he was quick to blame her for turning up late for the event, adding that they couldn't call anybody guilty until proved otherwise.
When quizzed, Bipasha curtly said, "I don't know Satish Poondi."

Bipasha Basu officially clears the air

This is with reference to the reports in the media about a bad experience I had in New Jersey on the weekend. To set the record straight, I would like to say that I was in New York for a few days and got a call to attend the New Jersey parade for Indian Independence Day.

Since it was Independence Day and since I knew one of the organisers and had done an event with him before, I agreed to attend.

The drive from Manhattan to New Jersey is nearly an hour. I said I prefer if a known person accompanied me on the drive. But unfortunately, the two men who landed up were not known to me.

However, since I had committed to be present at the Independence Day Parade, I decided to go ahead. Right through the drive, they spoke irresponsibly and made over-familiar and derogatory comments. I was really upset with their comments.

At the event, I brought up the matter on stage and said it is shameful that some men don't know how to talk to a woman. The entire crowd was very supportive of my view. I am sure the two men have learnt their lesson and will never talk badly to a woman ever again.

[Coustesy: Sheetald in IF-Bollywood section]

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Go Girl.. these people need a bash!!!👏

So...Here is the question:

Why is it that Actresses/Models carrying sexy image are harrased/ molested on different occasions? i remember sushmita sen harrased by Coka Cola official plus a photographer and one actress who acted in "karma confession and holy"(yet to be released) was also harrased at night by street people...🤢 Thank God she managed to escape b4 the unfortunate could happen😭

Why don't people tend to respect them? Why are we encountering such situations : Actress harrassed by single/group of people😡

Why not someone think of harrassing Vidya Balan??😕 Why Bipasha Basu??😕

Ur comments.

I think the answer lies in a recent post here on DM "why do girls wear mini skirt" . The Initial poster would best answer your question to this as to why do men think that "women who dress sexily are sex objects and deserve/ are asking for it if they are man handled!!😛

Some people take the charachters they play in movies a bit too seriously and think that the actress herself is loose. Like Bipasha in Jism, it gave her a sexy image but also gave her a loose image in the minds of these street prawlers and perverts. I find it disgusting that they take advantage of a woman thinking that she wont speak up. However as it turns out Bipasha is one of the women who wont take it sitting down, and i aplaude her for it.

Bollywood women have to be strong because not only do they have to flaunt their sexuality on screen but they have the knowledge on how to protect themselves if needed.

Aparna di... does the same rule apply in Actress/Modle category?... we had 1960's heroines wearing swimsuits in that era.... but did any kind of harresment happened then? I haven't heard of one yet!!

{P.S. Aparna di.. if u think that DMers have done a debate on it.. u can close it 😊 )

Originally posted by: MNMS

Aparna di... does the same rule apply in Actress/Modle category?... we had 1960's heroines wearing swimsuits in that era.... but did any kind of harresment happened then? I haven't heard of one yet!!

{P.S. Aparna di.. if u think that DMers have done a debate on it.. u can close it 😊 )

I am sure Maryam the actresses those days faced just as much of harrasement. Infact i imagine it might have been worse as this proffesion was very un-acceptable then for women.

I remember reading about an incident long back. a few men tried to harrass Pooja Batra, but they were unaware that she knew how to defend herself through martial arts.

this has happened to Bipasha before as well isnt it? I felt so bad for her when i read about the first incident. This one just makes me mad. 😡

I think it is a sick mindset + the inability to separate fact from fiction which causes such incidents to happen.

Yeah I agree with Tanaz ... some people think if she can act half naked in front of alll those men while shooting ... she must be loose ... they cant separate the reel life from real life!

these kind of incidents are heard of alll the time ... however i think its something that will continue happening ... recent rakhi sawant - mika issue was the same ... because rakhi sawant has such a "sexy" image .. mika thought he cud act however he likes with her.

so i agree with bipasha ... they deserve respect .. no matter which movie/role they have done .. at the end of the day its thier profession.

I believe the hwoel situation comes becaus many women don't say anything and these perverts get agitated when few women speak up. I was watching documentary on B4U about Indian models and struggling actresses in Bombay. It was so sad. They interviewed these women who one day want to make it big in Bollywood. These women come from all parts of India and live alone in Bombay. Some who do get the assignments work all day and then they have to attend these parties where bbig name directors and producers, Music Directors and Photographers come. They are like ," we have to let them touch us during dance or conversations, or else how would they know that we are serious about our work." Few of them also said ," Sometimes you have to sleep with them which is okay." Mnay of them go through boyfriends like anything because they can't stand the lonely life.
So now if people are used to getting their ways, they get agitated when few do make noise.
It's sad...what happened to Biapasa was not right and there is no excuse for it. I think it's the whole show biz...people take women to haveloose character if they shed their clothes for movies.

Originally posted by: MNMS

we had 1960's heroines wearing swimsuits in that era.... but did any kind of harresment happened then? I haven't heard of one yet!!

I think it was worse in those times because most of them like Meena kumari, Madhubala were from very poor family came to this profession only for a living. I think those were the times when they couldn't even come out in press. See the tragic end these two actors met. They were used by many men in the industry.

😛 I will come back later with my views!!!