Daily Times

Veteran Bollywood actor and Indian politician Shatrughan Sinha on Wednesday said behind a successful man’s fall is a woman but clarified that he was not making fun of the #MeToo movement and his comments should be taken in the “right humour”.

“Today is the time of #MeToo, and there shouldn’t be any shame or hesitation to say that behind a successful man’s fall is a woman. Behind the troubles and infamy of successful men, there have been mostly women that I’ve seen in this movement,” he said at the launch of the book A Touch of Evil by author Dhruv Somani.

“I really call myself fortunate that in today’s times, tamam harkate karne kay bawajood (despite everything that I’ve done), my name hasn’t come out in the #MeToo movement. Hence, I listen to my wife and often take her as a shield with me so that even if there’s nothing, I can show, ‘I am happily married, my life is good.'” Sinha said his wife, Poonam, is a “goddess” and his “everything”.

“Even if anyone wants to say anything about me, please don’t say,'” he added.

The #MeToo movement hit Bollywood last year and saw several women coming out with their horror stories of sexual harassment and rape by actors and filmmakers from the industry. When asked whether he was making fun of the movement, Sinha backtracked and said his statement should be taken in “right humour.”

“Don’t take it otherwise. Please take it with a plain sense of humour. I highly appreciate and applaud the women, who, better late than never, have come forward… I salute their courage and guts. But beyond that, I don’t want to go further at this hour because it’s a book launch event and we should not cross our limits. But having said this, I understand what you are saying and I am highly supportive of what you said,” he added.

Published in Daily Times, February 8^th 2019.