Cine & TV artistes’ association (CINTAA) held a press conference today where key members addressed the media about the ongoing #MeToo campaign. Along with Amit Behl, Sushant Singh and Vikram Gokhale, Rajeshwari and Deepak Qazir were also present at the conference.

President Vikram Gokhale said, “I am trying my best to use my connections wherever I can. I hope I will keep trying to work towards the entire industry. CINTAA is just not a body, its a fraternity. We should stand united. I am thankful on the behalf of our body to the media fraternity for their immense support.”

[caption id="attachment_151805" align="alignnone" width="894"] Vikram Gokhale[/caption]

Talking further about the case of Nana Patekar and Tanushree Dutta that initiated the #MeToo campaign, he said, “This case is a judiciary matter. I have asked my colleagues not to interfere in this case at all. I won’t take anyone's side at the moment. We are studying the case carefully. It is a 10-year old case that doesn’t mean that anyone could come up and say anything against anyone but I also feel that the victims should get full support from us too. The case is sub judice. As per the law, even if someone looks at a person for beyond 14 secs, it is the case of sexual harassment.”

[caption id="attachment_151792" align="alignnone" width="920"] Amit Behl[/caption]

Chairperson Amit Behl revealed that the foremost duty of CINTAA as a body is to work upon the safety measures of working artists. He also shared details about a subcommittee and its members.

“When it comes to sexual harassment, we are a trade union that work for the welfare of the actors. If an actor complains, we have tackled it carefully in the past. Sometime back, someone complained about a casting director soon which we confronted him and sort out the matter then and there. Once an actress complained about a producer when she was shooting abroad, we made her flew down to India overnight. We thought the police can overlook the matter since our duty is to make the artist feel safe. Each member of CINTAA is connected to ten other members around its residential vicinity. The committee from abroad is coming to India to set up the guidelines. We knew that someone will have guts and come out of the closet one day and people will follow it. If we make certain amendments, will we act upon.”

“Raveena Tandon, Renuka Shahane, Amol Gupte, journalist Bharti Dubey have confirmed their support to CINTAA and they will form a sub committee against sexual harassment. Swara Bhasker will also look after and advice the body,” he added.

General secretary Sushant Singh ensured that CINTAA will surely approach several production houses who have already implemented do’s and do not's in a working environment to make their own guidelines.

“CINTAA has also been a monetary complaint box. People have lost faith also. I feel we are not united. Actors are afraid of being boycotted by the producers. We have visited 90 sets and inspected about safety measures. Guidelines for sexual harassment on the sets for us is a new thing frankly. We will make sure to put up posters on the sets with do’s and don’ts. We will approach the production houses like excel entertainment who have already set few guidelines in every department. We have just started taking steps. We can’t give a financial penalty to anyone as a trade union. We want to create fear," he said.