My onscreen daughter…

Around 14 years ago I started shooting for a TV show. After the first few episodes the girl, who was playing my daughter in the show was replaced by a very sweet and talented nine-year- old, who took to the role like it was written for her. Our bond grew so strong that since then, for the past 13 years, she has wished me on Mother's Day every single year. Beyond a warm and sweet gesture that is a reflection of the values she has grown up with, I would ask her about her studies and work, and she would always reply with confidence and assurance that all is well.

How I wish it was…Few days ago that adorable little child of mine on screen hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Since then I have been getting a lot of phone calls and messages asking me if I "read about my on-screen daughter". My reply: "Yes! I read about her because the reports are only writing about her. Had they written about her so called high profile "businessmen" clients involved, I would have read about them too". Honestly, I'm quite disappointed that the media reports have so selectively guarded their identity and names. I have no interest in knowing about those degenerate "businessmen", but I would have loved to see their names come to the fore so that their families – mothers, daughters, sisters and wives – and friends would get an insight into their recreational habits.

I'm appalled at the way the issue has been dealt with by the media. We, the people, are so eager to pass judgments and share opinions about her on social media, but none of us have walked the hard yards in her shoes…so, do we actually have a right to judge her yet? I don't know her reasons and problems, and I don't know any solutions either... All I know is that she is kept in a remand home and that she has apparently given a statement accepting it. At least she has been brave enough to accept it (as per the reports). I had been intending to write this piece since I got to know about it, but I wanted to first speak to her. Unable to do that, I did manage to talk to her real life mother today. How many of us know that her mother has not been allowed to meet her in the remand home yet? How many of us know that the attending judge has told her mother that she is cheering up kids and other women in the remand home by talking about music and life. Her mother is feeling deprived, dejected and even defeated…and understandably so. She has a few very valid questions – "My daughter is not a criminal, why is her name being maligned like this? What if this irresponsible reporting along with her photographs by the media has a long-lasting scarring impact on her? What if tomorrow she finds it impossible to carry the bitter remains of her life and takes a drastic step, God forbid...

Does anyone have an answer?Her mother and many other women, including me, want to know the answers to some more questions. Why has the large section of media been so selective in highlighting the girl? Why the names and photographs of the businessmen not splashed all over, like the girl's? Why have those men been granted the right to privacy and not the girl? Is she a soft target just because she is an actor and a public figure? Why is our moral police quiet about this? In a country where even the rapists and murderers are given the right to privacy, why has her right been violated? Why this irresponsible insensitive stand against her?