Illustration: Zara N. Contractor
Illustration: Zara N. Contractor

Last month, the world reverberated with shock when A-list Hollywood actresses accused cinema titan Harry Weinstein of sexual harassment and even rape. The allegations quickly led to a tsunami of similar complaints filed against some of Hollywood’s shining icons, the golden boys lauded at award ceremonies and hitherto treated with respectful diffidence: actors Kevin Spacey, Steven Seagal and Dustin Hoffman, director James Toback … the list has continued to mount. The rose-tinted glasses have slipped off to expose the cruelty and inhumanity persisting behind the camera for the world to see.

Hollywood will never again be perceived as the glorious haven for art where the talented thrive while the rest are left to slink in the shadows. Its starry veneer has become indelibly smeared with something far more disgusting.

Then again, isn’t this the world that we live in? Isn’t every profession in the world — the corporate realm, medicine, legal et al — sullied by the persistent shadow of favours extracted in lieu of pay raises and promotions? Don’t whispers about a prevailing ‘casting couch’ make the rounds in entertainment circles everywhere? Don’t we all know — or have we not heard — of the many Weinsteins who freewheel happily amongst us?

The unspoken culture of the casting couch plagues entertainment industries all around the world. Pakistan is no different. In the imperfect world that we live in, can we ever hope to bring an end to it?

Zoning in on our home ground, Pakistani society has always been split into two: between the sanctimonious and the Qandeel Balochs, the subdued women and the ‘loose characters’ that ‘lead’ men astray, the Mahira Khan we love when she plays the righteous wronged woman and the Mahira Khan we senselessly attack when we find her wearing a little white dress, smoking and — God forbid — spending time with an Indian. We take pride in maintaining a tempered, restrained surface but slander is rife beneath it and the casting couch runs rampant.

The couch’s existence, though, is merely acknowledged in hushed whispers. One knows, of course, of the actors and actresses that maintain ‘side professions’, the big time directors who insist on making private casting calls, the respected stalwarts that promise roles to up-and-coming starlets in return for their companionship and the fashion models that win awards once they agree to certain arrangements with event sponsors. There are designers who have strange, unscrupulous ways of selecting models for their fashion shows, well-known photographers whose careers plummeted simply because they would misuse the models they worked with and respected corporate entities who wield their clout by promoting and investing in the career of their current ‘favourite’. One knows, but in our ‘land of the pure’, one politely looks away.

“It all depends on an individual’s personal priorities,” says veteran actress Bushra Ansari. “There are actors and actresses who are ambitious and who want to gain fame overnight. You see them getting rich in a matter of years and that kind of financial success simply can’t be gained in such a short time on an actor’s salary. I don’t want to judge them. It’s how they want to live their lives and if it helps them achieve their goals, then so be it. But I do want to point out that there is another way. Back when I started out, we worked our way up from scratch and we worked for the love of our art rather than for money. There are still people like that who now have successful careers. It isn’t easy. It requires long hours and, sometimes, an individual’s career may fail to take off altogether. But again, it’s the choice a person makes. If a girl or boy is willing to offer certain favours in order to get to the top, that’s up to them.”

“One always did get to know that something shady was happening,” says actress and director Sahira Kazmi, thinking back to her PTV days. “I would see these young girls spending time with directors and well-known actors, hanging about inside their offices for ages. And after some time, I would see those same girls landing big roles in dramas. I am sure that it still happens and more than anything else, it makes me sad. A lot of these people need the money and they are just not strong enough to say no.”

The casting couch, of course, has always prevailed within our industry. “One always did get to know that something shady was happening,” says actress and director Sahira Kazmi, thinking back to her PTV days. “I would see these young girls spending time with directors and well-known actors, hanging about inside their offices for ages. And after some time, I would see those same girls landing big roles in dramas. I am sure that it still happens and more than anything else, it makes me sad. A lot of these people need the money and they are just not strong enough to say no. Perhaps, for them, the fame and fortune that they eventually gain via the casting couch makes it all worth it. But for others, there are always more legitimate but more difficult ways. Talent cannot be quelled.”

Going back to the heyday of Lollywood, it was the norm for heroines to have clandestine ‘arrangements’ with filmmakers. Production quality was hardly a concern with films often being easy investment options for money gained through illegal means. The actors’ acting mettle didn’t really matter and Lahore’s notorious red light area entwined with the film industry.

“One has to realise that there’s a fine line dividing coercion via the casting couch and consensual affairs,” points out veteran film director Syed Noor. “There are many directors who have married actresses and that is something personal and completely different. I think that women are truly respected in our industry by everyone from the spot boys to their directors. Still, there are substandard projects where production quality is not a concern. An actress may get hired based on favours that are extracted from her. A lot of times girls enter the industry at a very young age and they may get misused if they end up interacting with the wrong people.

“It’s also important to acknowledge that there are many actors who don’t really mind the casting couch,” continues Noor. “You see people gaining fame and riches overnight and it is quite obvious that they are earning their income from elsewhere.”

Despite the couch and the easy shortcut it may provide to fame, talent holds its own merit. “All productions are not marred by sleazy underlying motives,” says actor Ahmed Butt, who has acted in some of the most successful Pakistani movies in recent times. “At present, Pakistani films are being looked upon as huge investments and people are working very hard on bringing out quality movies. No filmmaker in his right mind would hire actors just because the actor is open to entering certain side ‘arrangements’. It doesn’t always work like that.”

If not always, things do sway in this direction quite often. Events’ organiser and choreographer Frieha Altaf recalls many a time when she got calls from established designers and officials ‘recommending’ a model for a show. Given the gender bending tendencies within the fashion industry, the harassment of male models is particularly common. Some resiliently persist despite the odds, some are fortunate enough to find work in a clean professional environment, many others leave.

“I particularly feel badly for male models,” says stylist Saima Rashid Bargfrede. “It almost seems that they don’t have any other choice but to bend the rules for designers keen on taking advantage of them. There is still some standardisation for female models in Pakistan but I have seen all sorts of men stumbling their way on the ramp at fashion weeks. The models’ talent doesn’t seem to be a concern — it’s all about who they ‘please’ and how they ‘please’ them. I also know of good, educated boys from well-established families who have tried to dabble in modeling but have failed to succeed simply because they didn’t partake in the activities that take place behind the scenes.”

“The work environment just keeps getting worse,” laments designer Maheen Khan. “The industry is now rife with arrogance and mediocrity which is promoted by self-professed king makers. It’s just sad that we have trundled down to this, where careers, sponsorships and awards ceremonies are centred round something so derogatory. It’s not an industry that I would want my children to enter. It’s not the industry that I worked so hard to build. We need to speak out against this in order to save fashion and give it a more professional direction.”

But no one does speak out. The ways of the Pakistani entertainment industry and fashion are far too concentric with the power players condoning foul play. As in the West, speaking out would possibly mean the end of one’s career. There’s also a far greater religious and cultural taboo in the country in speaking out openly about sexual matters and the need to protect the legitimate reputation of fledgling industries, that have often been the target of obscuranists, is never far from insiders’ minds. Besides, in a society where a Qandeel Baloch can get strangled in her sleep by her brother acknowledging what is taboo can be a very dangerous thing. Avoidance, perhaps, is an easier option.

“One can avoid working with people who give off certain vibes,” suggests actress Saba Qamar. “It will definitely mean losing out on work but it can work in the long run. There have been times when I have turned away from people whose actions have seemed suggestive to me.”

Going back to Hollywood, the current wave of sexual harassment claims has managed to thwart careers. Kevin Spacey has lost his coveted role in the hit Nextflix series House of Cards and the notorious Harvey Weinstein has been sacked from his own company. Reputations have been ruined and a so-called ‘harassment bandwagon’ has been set in motion, sparking off constant debates on a topic that was hardly ever discussed earlier.

In a perfect world, one would expect a concern for humanity to propel network bigwigs to take a stand against the use of the casting couch. But in the imperfect world that we live in, can local film houses and TV networks be expected to keep a stringent eye on their productions in order to avoid scandals and maintain a clean reputation? Can senior designers form a committee where the rights of the fashion fraternity are protected? Can the Weinsteins amongst us be made to feel scared so that their reign of misuse of power comes to an end? Or is it all too naïve to ask for?

Published in Dawn, ICON, November 19th, 2017

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