Renuka Shahane says MeToo movement was important as women are told to be silent from childhood: ‘Mat bolo’

Renuka also went on to say that she’s not sure if she lost out on work during this time. But she is sure that because she is known as a woman who has opinions, there are certain people in the industry who might not want to work with her. The actor said she is fine with that scenario.

Speaking about the MeToo movement and people questioning victims, Renuka told Pinkvilla, “In fact, ‘mat bolo (don’t say anything)’ is something that women are told so often from childhood. I feel that catharsis is necessary. MeToo was very important because if not anything else, that collective feeling of catharsis that a lot of women went through for what they had gone through maybe 10 years, 25 years ago. People say ‘why after 25 years?’ Arey aap bolne kab dete ho? (When do you let women speak?).”

She added, “Maximum abuse happens within families and if a child– whether a boy or a girl — tells the parents, how many parents are willing to give up on their elders or family relationships on the basis of what the child has said? So I think it starts from there. You made to feel guilty about something that you have no business feeling guilty about. The perpetrator has to feel guilty.”

Renuka was last seen in the Disney+ Hotstar film Govinda Naam Mera as Vicky Kaushal’s mother. She is married to actor Ashutosh Rana; they have two sons, Shauryaman and Satyendra.

She became a director with the Marathi film Rita in 2006 and wrote and helmed the Hindi film Tribhanga which released on Netflix in 2021. Starring Kajol, Tanvi Azmi and Mithila Palkar, Tribhanga followed the difficult relationships between three generations of women in a family.