Not so long ago, a pertinent question was raised by the Indian media: Does Bollywood have Harvey Weinsteins? Whispers within close circles, blind items in newspapers did hint at a few names, but nobody in Bollywood wanted to address the elephant in the room.
Recently, a video surfaced of ace singer and musician Papon Angaarag planting a kiss on a minor girl. Typical of the histrionic electronic media, #PaapiPapon, #PervertPapon, #DontSparePapon, #ArrestPervertPapon started trending online, along with #IStandByPapon hashtags. Soon after, there was a post on Facebook describing an uncomfortable encounter with the singer.
For those who don’t know, Angaraag Mahanta, popularly known as ‘Papon,’ is the voice of songs such as “Moh Moh Ke Dhaage” from Dum Laga Ke Haisha and “Labon Ka Karobaar”. He later released an official statement, which came across as a half-baked apology blaming the faulty ‘camera angle’. He also called himself an “extremely affectionate and expressive person” and said he was being victimised for no fault of his. The girl’s father has also refuted these claims of harassment, so has the 11-year-old girl. She has come forward and given a statement that ‘Papon showered her with affection, just like another father would do’. This comes as Papon is on the brink of being slapped with POCSO with several women and children welfare organisations eager to escalate the case.
His actors were also condemned by many Bollywood celebrities.
If anybody behaved with my daughter the way #Papon did with the teenage girl I would slap him several times in such a way that no one dared behave that way again
— Suchitra Krishnamoorthi (@suchitrak) February 23, 2018
As a little girl, i had always hated Holi and it was entirely because of the old uncles chance maroing. Can completely relate to the girl’s violated expression. #Papon
— Rujuta Diwekar (@RujutaDiwekar) February 24, 2018
I know #Papon he is good guy. But there is no doubt that when I saw the video it made me feel uncomfortable. I think he didn’t mean to do it but if it was my daughter I would not like it. I think people should not touch other people’s children, just to show affection: Farah Khan pic.twitter.com/dKGzPWRrpC
— ANI (@ANI) February 24, 2018
Wasn’t smothering a child’s face with your palm rubbing color all over it for 4 secs enough as fatherly love, that u had to pull the child’s face then to strategically peck her on the lip??? There was no wrong camera angle or the child moving her face mistakenly BTW ??#papon?
— Gauahar Khan (@GAUAHAR_KHAN) February 23, 2018
While Papon’s act cannot compare with the crimes of predators like Harvey Weinstein, it still is a gross violation of private space, to phrase it mildly. An adult man, no matter how good his intentions are, cannot touch a girl or woman without her consent, especially a minor who is yet to fully understand the concept of ‘good touch, bad touch’. Such an act, passed off as benevolence, not only normalises inappropriate behaviour to the society at large, but also makes the child vulnerable to abuse.
In a world that gives the benefit of doubt to perpetrators, this apology of Papon comes across as ‘playing the victim card’. He talks about being a father and husband, thereby establishing a testimony that ‘family oriented’ men do not indulge in predatory behaviour. The contestants, their parents, his fans have come out in support of Papon, deeming the incident as unfortunate and blaming it on the ‘camera angles’ and knee-jerk reactions from social media warriors. However, to every faulty ‘camera angle’, there is a disturbing notion at play which allows men to be ‘affectionate’ towards minor girls.
To his statement, “I might have done it spontaneously but in today’s environment, to touch a girl child, however innocent your thoughts are, is not advisable. I am sorry for that,” someone should remind him that in any age or period touching a girl child and invading her private space is not acceptable. The question is how much is too much?
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When comedian Aziz Ansari was facing sexual harassment allegations, both men and women rushed to his defence saying that it was just a bad date. No, it wasn’t. As Jill Filipovic wrote for the Guardian, “We’re arguing about whether Aziz Ansari is a sexual assailant, and missing the more relevant conversation about sex, male entitlement and misogyny in the bedroom.”
While Hollywood is out on the streets calling out problematic men and behaviour, we in India still have a hard time accepting that our icons and role models have feet of clay. That, in a world where men get away with sexual misconduct due to the nature of their work and their clout, it is essential that these artistes are made culpable. In a world ruled by Woody Allens, Harvey Weinsteins and Casey Afflecks, it is much needed to excoriate the deeds done by even the most talented men.
It brings us back to the unanswered age-old question, do we stop celebrating artistic felicities of men accused of sexual misconduct?
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