Kamya Panjabi on sexual abuse in TV industry amid Malayalam cinema's #MeToo wave: 'Some actors are womanisers...'

Several actresses in the Malayalam and Tamil industries have come forward with cases of sexual harassment since the Justice Hema Committee Report was made public. Now, Kamya Panjabi has also opened up about the sexual abuse and casting couch in the television industry and called it the 'safest'. 

In an interview with News18, Kamya Panjabi defended the Hindi television industry called TV the ‘safest’ industry, and claimed that there is no sexual abuse or casting couch here. She said, "Television has been very clean. I don’t know what used to happen in the past but now it is very clean. There is no such filth here. People aren’t forced or blackmailed here." 

She added that the television industry is free of casting couch and sexual abuse and said, "There is no casting couch. If you fit a role, you have talent, you will be selected for the show. I feel television is the safest place in the entertainment industry. Sexual abuse does not happen here. Whatever happens, because there is mutual consent. Nobody is telling anyone to sleep with them in the promise of a role." 

She further added, "Some actors are womanisers but if you stop it, if you make it very clear, such things do not happen. Nobody is being forced to do this. Aisa nahi hai ke aapko haath lagaya jaaega aur aap uncomfortable feel karoge. If you tell them, ‘Hello, I don’t like it’, you will not be touched. We have seen actors who get crazy for girls but nobody forces nobody." 

She concluded, "I know of some people who say that such things have happened to them. But again, if a girl does not want, it will not happen. It does not happen in the television industry. I don’t know about films or OTT but it does not happen on TV."

Kamya Panjabi is popular for portraying negative roles in Indian television serials like Reth, and Astitva...Ek Prem Kahani and Banoo Mein Teri Dulhann. She also participated in Bigg Boss 7 and though she didn't win a trophy, she impressed the audience with her strong personality. 

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