EXCLUSIVE! Nikhil Dwivedi On Working With #MeToo Accused Anurag Kashyap: “I’m Not Saying That He May Not Have Done Something… All I’m Asking Is For A Proper Procedure”
Besides speaking on the Anurag Kashyap #MeToo row, Nikhil Dwivedi also opened up on his tweet to Rhea Chakraborty
Nikhil Dwivedi On Working With Rhea Chakraborty, #MeToo Accused Anurag Kashyap
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Nikhil Dwivedi has rose fresh from the success of Hansal Mehta’s Scam 1992. The show is the best rated IMDb Indian series of all time. Koimoi got into an exclusive conversation with the actor. We spoke to him at length about his tweet on Rhea Chakraborty, as well as, working with Anurag Kashyap, who was recently embroiled in a #MeToo case. Kashyap was accused of sexual misconduct by Payal Ghosh. Read below for all the details.
In September, Nikhil had written to Rhea Chakraborty on Twitter saying that he would like to work with her. When we asked Nikhil if there was any update on the same, this is what the Dabangg 3 producer said. “A lot of people think I just want to be cool by supporting her. That’s not true at all. In fact, I don’t even know Rhea at all. For me, it could have been anyone else also. For me, to say that was a mark of protest. I’m a believer of the constitution. Our constitution says ‘innocent until proven guilty.’ The guilt of any crime can only be proven by institutions which have been formed by the Constitution, which eventually are the courts of law. You and I don’t have the right to pronounce anyone guilty. That is what was going on,” he said.
Nikhil Dwivedi continued, “Much before any judge or court has pronounced her guilty or not guilty; we have pronounced our own judgements. We do not have that right. For everybody who started to say ‘don’t take her interview, throw her out of the job’ – don’t tell me who’s not to talk, work with because you have pronounced them guilty.”
The actor even expressed his opinion on the #MeToo movement. Nikhil Dwivedi said, “This you know kind of even happened in the #MeToo movement. I may be intruding into a very dangerous territory but I must say, #MeToo is a wonderful movement but what happened with it eventually – the way it was conducted was not correct. When somebody is accused and the makers are literally forced to throw them out of the job, that’s not the way it should be. There are forums and institutions but nobody wants to go make an FIR, nobody wants to let the agencies investigate or for the courts to give out the verdict. We cannot start throwing people out of their jobs. What if there is a 1% chance that the person is innocent, how are we going to live with the guilt?” questions the actor.
He further adds, “When people are in a job, they’re not just connected to a field. Their families depend on it, there is livelihood, their parents are to be taken care of, medical bills, school fees – we’re just not looking at a larger picture. My entire statement for Rhea Chakraborty came from this context.”
Ask him if he would work with Anurag Kashyap irrespective of the recent backlash, Nikhil answered, “Until the court of law pronounces a verdict, I won’t worry. Then I would back off, because you don’t want to support something which is in the realm of crime. But until such time, how can you or I decide? It’s not correct. I can still decide if I have some prima facie with it, something that has happened in my office, I’m aware of it, a complaint has been lodged – we do our little investigation and find enough evidence to take a decision. But how can we make a decision over somebody who has given something over the internet or an interview? That’s not the correct method to go about.”
Does that mean he isn’t worried about the loss that a film may face because of a backlash? “A lot of people are responsible in making of a film. It would be wrong of me to say that I don’t care because it’s not my movie alone. It is going to be artists who work for it, technicians, financers but I also don’t want to take a wrong decision. That’s not how I have been brought up. Somebody needs to say it’s not the correct method. I’m not even saying that Anurag may not have done something or has he done but all I’m asking is for a proper procedure,” said Nikhil Dwivedi.
For the unversed, Nikhil Dwivedi and Anurag Kashyap are reportedly collaborating on a homage to Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill.
