Kiara Advani: Post #MeToo, change isn't significant

Actor Kiara Advani says people today are finally having "uncomfortable conversations" about abuse and consent, but it's a stretch to assume that the world post the #MeToo movement has changed.

The #MeToo movement, which began in Hollywood, gained momentum in India in 2018, with women calling out comedians, journalists, authors, actors and filmmakers.

Kiara features in the latest Netflix Original film, Guilty, which explores the different versions of truth that emerge when a small-town girl accuses the college heartthrob of rape.

In the post #MeToo world, the gaze has changed, but Kiara said the change isn't significant.

"It's not like #MeToo happened and the world changed. We don't live in a post #MeToo world. We live in the #MeToo world. We are not there yet," Kiara told PTI.

The actor, however, feels people who didn't question anything "uncomfortable" until now, have started to talk.

"Now it's shaking. We have always suppressed it. But now we are finally having these uncomfortable conversations. It's high time we did. Everything has to start with a conversation."

"Guilty" is produced by Karan Johar's Dharmatic, the digital content arm of the filmmaker's Dharma Production and helmed by Ruchi Narain.

The "Kabir Singh" actor says when she was narrated the script, its story enveloped her, making her constantly think of the film.

"The topic is not just relevant but is something that bothers each one of us in a very different way. To be a part of a story that somewhere gave me a character to even voice out a lot of my own thoughts about it, opinions, complications, confusions and all that about a subject as sensitive as this.

"Without being preachy, still telling so much. That for me was really liberating and the story itself, the way Ruchi has written it, the entire narrative, it really holds. It's an immersive experience."

"Guilty" happened to her when Kiara had signed big films, including Dharma's "Good Newwz" and "Shershah", but she never felt that doing a movie for the web would be any less than a theatrical high.
"I believe content comes in every form. If there is a film that I want to watch and I can see myself adding to it in some way, I want to be a part of it. With 'Guilty', it was Dharma doing their first feature film collaboration with Netflix, I had to be a part of it... Today, you have to be relevant. This is the next big step. Lines are blurred today," she adds.

"Guilty" also stars Akansha Ranjan Kapoor, Gurfateh Singh Pirzada and Taher Shabbir among others.

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• Kiara Advani