Arjun the hero of popular films like Gentleman and Oke Okkadu is facing the Me Too allegations. Sruthi Hariharan who is the age of Ajuns daughter has pointed out and posted that Arjun sexually harassed her on the sets in name of rehearsing for the movies. She said he hugged her and ran his hands behind her which was not suggested by the director.
In the name of rehearsals, he acted as if it was foreplay she charged. Arjun is yet to respond over the allegations made by Shruthi. Arjun is treated as a very respectable person in the industry. He is known for helping the people. Some of them were shocked to hear the Me Too allegations against Arjun. He is popular in Tollywood also.
The #metoo movement has made many of us comfortable with sharing our uncomfortable realities! This movement has empowered survivors of sexual violence to come forward and share their stories with the world! I often see individuals refraining from talking about experiences of sexual violence because they feel they don’t embody what it means to be a “Perfect Victim”.
Honestly, I have been lucky as I have managed to escape physically and mentally scarring situations. However, in late 2016, there was one incident that left me startled and took a while for me to recover.
I was shooting for a bilingual film which starred Arjun Sarja. A man whose movies I have grown up watching. I was excited about the opportunity. The first few days seemed normal, I played his wife in the film and that day we were to do a romantic scene where we had to hug each other after a brief dialogue. During the rehearsal, we delivered our lines and Mr. Arjun hugs me. With no forewarning or permission, he runs his hands intimately up and down my back.
He pulls me closer with my body taut against his and asks the director if we could use this idea of foreplay in the scene. I was aghast. I am all for depicting realism in cinema, but this felt absolutely wrong. His intent seemed anything but professional. I hated that he did it and angry that I didn’t know what to say then.
