TW- Mentions of sexual, verbal and physical assault
I was scrolling through the Gram when I came across an article where Palak Tiwari was talking about her experience of working with Salman Khan on her upcoming film, Kisi ka bhai kisi ki jaan.
In that interview, she talked about how Salman Khan has a rule for women’s attire while working on his set. She further stated how Salman doesn’t allow a woman with a plunging neckline on his set because he feels “protective” of them. Justifying this, Palak said how Salman Khan is a traditionalist in his approach and doesn’t allow “his actresses” to dress inappropriately because “the girl should feel safe”.
I can’t help but think about how problematic this thought process of victim blaming is. The thinking that women aren’t safe if they aren’t covered from head to toe is just appalling. How are we still glorifying these things? A young actress who’s just coming into the movies is covering up to go to a set because apparently, if she doesn’t cover up and wear what she feels like, “she won’t feel safe”. We need to get rid of the idea that clothes are to be blamed.
This thinking enables men to think that they have control over women. It also takes away the agency from women. Women should feel safe irrespective of what they CHOOSE to wear. Even today when a woman dresses the way she wants to, she is expected to look after herself or be responsible for her safety but nobody teaches men to respect their choices and to not harass women or make them uncomfortable with male gaze. How long will it take for us to understand that clothes are not the problem? The perpetrators are. No matter how a woman is dressed, she is NOT INVITING TROUBLE.
The worst part is that this is not the first time Salman Khan has been so insensitive to women and made problematic statements. This makes me think of the time when Salman Khan, in a promotional interview for Sultan, causally said how he felt like he was “raped” while shooting Sultan. He said, “When I used to walk out of the ring after the shoot, I used to feel like a raped woman. I couldn’t walk straight.”
This statement caused an uproar nationwide, and #insensitivesalman started trending on Twitter and reached the national commission for Women, too, who demanded an apology. Salman’s father then posted an apology, and we all got over it. Nobody talked about it post that.
What Salman said was horrific and a mockery to assault victims, and he belittled their suffering. Rape is a heinous crime, and you can’t possibly be so desensitised and inhuman to be speaking like that on a public platform with millions of fans listening to you. For someone who is highly influential with ardent followers and preaches “being human” so openly, this is the worst you can do. The most problematic part of the entire thing was how people turned a blind eye because it was the Salman Khan who was talking about it, and “he must not have meant it”. This is a perfect example of how powerful men can get away with almost everything.
Not only statements but his personal life with women have never been a good story either. Salman Khan has a long history of abusive relationships. From allegedly throwing a drink on his ex, Somy Ali’s head, to physically and mentally abusing Aishwarya Rai and Katrina Kaif, his ‘angry young man’ act has ruined all his relationships.
Aishwarya Rai’s complaints against Salman Khan’s abuse is something probably all of us have heard. Somy Ali shared multiple posts on social media talking about the physical, sexual and verbal abuse she faced when she was in a relationship with Salman Khan. She talked about how Salman has and still tries to ruin her career. But even after all these public complaints and police complaints, what came out of it? Nothing. No action was taken against Salman Khan, but the women who complained against him faced all the consequences, from not getting films to being outcasted by the industry to Salman’s ardent fans online trolling or harassing them. Most of the comments under Somy Ali’s post where she talked about her abuse blamed her for not speaking when it happened. But my question is, why is that our concern? Why are their complaints forgotten and not even acknowledged? Because he’s the Salman Khan.
So many court cases and problematic statements later, Salman Khan continues to rule the box office and thrives. Nobody dares to cross him, for he will “ruin their careers/lives”. He’s still the “bhai” of everyone and is idolised by kids to grown men. Salman Khan is the face of “having it together” and “masculine” for them.
By the end of it all, Salman Khan is just “being human” and says things “from his heart”. He is let go because of his big heart as he does charity and is the fitness icon of Bollywood.
But my question is, how long will he let go of all the allegations made against him or the problematic things that he says? What will the younger generation learn from him, who look up to him and idolises him for his body or his films?