“There Are Many Weinsteins In Our  Film Industry,” Pahlaj Nihalani Takes On Harvey Weinstein

While Hollywood  is rocked by the Harvey Weinstein scandal , Bollywood  waits for the can of worms to be  opened.

Veteran  film producer Pahlaj Nihalani  whose new presentation Julie 2 chronicles the sexual exploitation of  newcomers in Bollywood says  there are many Harvey Weinsteins in Bollywood.

“Everyone in this industry knows them by name and their dirty deeds. There are producers who pretend to have the power to launch newcomers. They exploit strugglers specially those from outside Mumbai. And   I am talking about both male  and female directors. Then there are touts and middlemen pretending to be close to top stars and filmmakers .These  brokers  exploit  vulnerable newcomers,” says Nihalani, naming some hotshots fromBollywood as “chronic sexual offenders”.

Says Nihalani,  “Everyone knows who these powerful  sexual predators are.In fact the character of the producer in Julie 2 who asks  the heroine to sleep with him is  based on a  real-life producer known to ‘audition’ newcomers in his private hideout.”

The  character  of the leading lady in Julie 2 is said to be inspired by several actresses including Mandakini, KimiKatkar and Nagma.

Clarifies Nihalani, “It isn’t about any one particular actress. All aspiring youngsters who are not from film families have to go through the grind and humiliation. It is up to them  to not surrender to the ‘Harvey Weinstein’ syndrome that grips the Indian entertainment  industry.”