Actress Richa Chadha who is proud to portray a brave character like Shakeela on the big screen, looks at the #MeToo movement positively. She believes the movement should have a trial by law that can bring the truth to the fore. The most recent name to have emerged in the #MeToo wave is that of filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani, who has been accused of sexual harassment by a female assistant.

On her opinion on the movement, Richa Chadha told media, “I am happy that this movement took place and it is important to the cause of it. However, I feel that instead of the #MeToo movement being more about trial by media, it should be more trial by law, which is what will bring the truth to the cause. Instead of rumours, I feel it’s more important to understand the actual cases and bring justice to them.”

The actress was present along with ‘Shakeela’ director Indrajit Lankesh for the launch of a quirky calendar.

The film is based on the life of bold south Indian actress Shakeela who gained popularity in the 1990s by acting in Telugu and Malayalam films.

“When I first heard the story and when Indrajit Lankesh told me about the script, I was amazed to know how cinematic her life is. She is an unapologetic person who never apologized for her choices. She empowered herself and did things in a business which was largely male-dominated back then. ‘Shakeela’ is a story deserving to be told. I am fascinated by her and her story. We talk about issues like women empowerment, gender discrimination and #MeToo today. Shakeela has seen and witnessed this years ago. And she bravely stood up for each of these things during her time which was way early in those days. And she has lived an unapologetic life. Her career choices were always about why should I be ashamed to do my work,” she said.

The promotional calendar, featuring Chadha in 12 avatars, is themed on 1990s’ pulp films.

“The idea of the calendar was to create something that was tongue-in-cheek and equally funny. It’s homage to those pulp films of the ’90s. These posters have been intricately thought through with the intention of invoking a funny reaction from the audiences. I hope people get the humour in all of this. It’s a fun concept and the calendar is something that works well for the film,” she added.

Published in Daily Times, January 20th 2019.