Why blame the industry alone?

Say directors Tammareddy Bharadwaj and P Suneel Kumar Reddy after actress Shweta Basu Prasad was caught red-handed in a flesh trade racket on Sunday night

The saying ‘once bitten, twice shy’ is not valid for actress Shweta Basu Prasad. The Bengali-born actress, who was caught in a compromising position during a sting operation by a Telugu channel very recently, was nabbed by the Task Force sleuths on Sunday after she repeated the act of indulging in flesh trade at a five-star hotel in Hyderabad. Her arrest has sent shock waves across the industry, which has already witnessed such incidents in the past. Be it Yamuna, Bhuvaneshwari, Jyothi and Saira Bhanu, the industry has been a mere spectator to their very own indulging in nefarious activities.

Award winning director Suneel Kumar Reddy who has dealt with subjects like youngsters taking to crime to lead a rich life and sexual abuse through his films like ‘Oka Romantic Crime Katha’ and ‘Oka Criminal Prema Katha’ believes that when actresses are unable to meet their plush lifestyle requirements, they resort to such activities. “Prostitution is not just limited to the film industry but it has spread everywhere. Recent reports claim that even middle class families and college students are involved in hi-tech sex rackets,” he says.

Not blaming the industry, the director says that it’s not the industry’s responsibility to continuously employ an actor for long. “As long as the industry requires an actor, he/she stays. Young talent comes in and replaces old talent; that is how any film industry operates. It’s to the discretion of the actress whether she continues the plush life or goes back to her roots and finds alternatives,” he says, while adding, “But the sad part is that if you’ve got used to the filmi lifestyle, you want to continue it. And when there are no options left for you to lead such a life any longer, you fall prey to the bad voices around you. Your conscience doesn’t come into play most times.”

Another filmmaker Thammareddy Bharadwaj cautions youngsters to complete their formal education and attain a sense of maturity before they get into the industry. “Actors like Tarun and Uday Kiran have started very early and see where they are now. Formal education apart, it’s also the duty of parents to groom their children to follow the right path irrespective of how their careers shape,” he points out. Seconding Suneel’s opinion that prostitution has spread across every industry, he says, “Why single out only Shweta? Is it because she is from the industry? Yes it is a spoilt place but why is the hotel industry, where such things prevail regularly, not blamed? Why aren’t the brokers, businessman and pimps highlighted? They are more serious offenders.”

Suneel also blames the society. “If the society doesn’t respect an actor who is unsuccessful and is no longer using a bigger car, what will an 18-year-old girl do? It’s our value system that lead Shweta to take such a step.” Bharadwaj is keen that the industry comes up with counseling centres for actors who are in dire need.

There was a growing clamour for such setups from the industry folks after actor Uday Kiran committed suicide following his sagging career. However, Bharadwaj says that both actors and the society should believe that counseling centres are not psychiatric wards. “For God’s sake, they are counseling centres for people not pichchi (mental) hospitals.”