Sushmita Sen, Bipasha Basu glad that "women are speaking up" about their MeToo stories

As some of Bollywood's most powerful men are accused of sexual harassment, actors Sushmita Sen and Bipasha Basu say that it's about time these men were named and shamed.

Bipasha Basu, who worked alongside Sajid Khan during the production of Humshakals (2014), had a falling out with the director after the film because of his mannerism towards women on the team.

"I am glad that women are speaking up about the atrocities of these men with power and clout... But nothing of that sort happened with me... It was just his [Sajid's] general attitude towards women that would disturb me on set; he cracked lewd jokes openly and was pretty rude to all girls," she said.

Also read: Sajid Khan accused of sexual harassment, Subhash Ghai accused of rape

The actor added, "I was told by all not to say anything to him and stoop to his level, so I quietly finished my work as a professional and explained my stance to the producers, that I couldn’t associate myself with this film anymore as I could lose my temper any moment."

She applauded Tanushree Dutta for kick starting the MeToo movement in India and giving women the courage to name the offenders.

In an interview with Indian Express Sushmita Sen said the movement was bound to happen in Bollywood but asked how many people were actually listening to the women coming forward.

Also read: Two more women accuse Alok Nath of sexual misconduct

"Well, we would be blind if we thought this never happened in Bollywood. Even if it has not happened to you, we cannot be ignorant of the fact that it happens in every position of power," said the star.

"It is not limited to Bollywood but in every sector where one would see powerful people and people who abuse the power. I am very happy that women are speaking up. But how many of us are listening, that is the part of this campaign that I am not so sure of because you need a certain conditioning to understand and act upon it. If you still continue to listen to stories with great excitement because they mean nothing but gossip for you and then say, ‘This does not concern me or I will stay out of it because I don’t know what the truth is,’ then the entire courage women are showing about their stories and horrific things that have happened to them goes wasted. I hope that does not happen to them," added Sushmita.

These past few weeks have stirred Bollywood and India after the Tanushree Dutta-Nana Patekar harassment case; powerful men from the industry like Alok Nath, Nana Patekar, Sajid Khan, Vikas Bahl, Rajat Kapoor and more have been called out for sexual harassment and rape.