The year was 1996, and I had a small stint at Zee TV, Mumbai as an assistant for a film related TV program. I was 21 then, and those days we were trained into believing that women who wore decent clothes and who spoke decent language were good girls – ready to be persuaded for a long term relationships. And the women who wore skimpy dresses and who spoke filthy languages were left to the males who themselves were short of character. In fact most of my male friends kept a safe distance from those kinds of girls.
Yeah, I agree we belonged to an older generation and we are already getting outdated. Today, men are made to believe that a woman with her half ass hanging out of the mini shorts, or boobs lifted up to show off the deep cleavage, or nips being prominently visible could probably be a very nice person. My body, my choice wasn’t the moral code those days. The simple rule was dress decently in public and avoid giving unnecessary erections to men around as a woman’s body is the only factor that increases the blood flow to the penis producing testosterone in excess. That is science and mind you no man has ever got an erection looking at currency notes or a Bugati.
The compere for the TV program was a famous model (I don’t want to name her of course). She is quite famous even today. She has acted in a few movies and also was part of many TV serials that were hits.
My job was to adjust the lighting while shooting, some minor coordinations in the edit room, and make few calls to celebrities for interviews. In that 1 month stint I happened to call Ajay Devgan and Aamir Khan and spoke to them over the phone.
Sometimes of course I had to help the model in getting her make up box or holding the mirror for her or adjust her saree. It was fun until I heard a conversation between the model and the director on the sets. “I will never mind sleeping with Steven Spielberg if he gives me a role in his movie,” the model said aloud to the director. I was shocked beyond imagination. How can any woman with modesty talk like that? The statement disturbed me for days together and my respect for that lady evaporated in seconds. Her life, her choice, her body – I understand. But it is also – my thoughts, my opinion, my choice, and my judgment.
Years later, I found a way to reconcile with her statement. Well, of course you are ready to sleep with Steven Spielberg for money, fame and success but the million dollar question is whether Spielberg is ready to sleep with you. Ah, I felt relieved.