#MeToo has reached Pakistan. Will it ever come to Bollywood?

The silence around sexual abuse in the Indian film industry is deafening but it's not like no woman has ever come forward.

Kangana Ranaut has repeatedly accused Aditya Pancholi of sexually/emotionally/physically harassing her when she was younger.

More recently, Telugu actress Sri Reddy alleged she was not given fair chance to work in the film and was sexually exploited by directors/producers. She even held a semi-nude protest.

The reason why #MeToo never picked up in Bollywood is because even its 'woke' actors play way too safe. They (Radhika Apte, Swara Bhaskar) would talk about their experiences, condemn the predators but not name them.

And then there are others, who exploit it as a tool to market movies. Ever wondered why Kangana throws the muck around only before the release of her films?

You ask why? Because the nexus is impenetrable, the nepotism generational, the hypocrisy shocking and the powerful indifferent.

Why would you want to solve a problem when you are a part of it?

In a video for the BBC, actress Kalki Koechlin gets it right. "It's a very difficult step to take. Because it's their career on the line," she says matter of factly.

Vishesh Films chief, Mukesh Bhatt's Reuters interview of November 2017, sums up neatly just why a #MeToo is nearly impossible in Bollywood.

When asked about the rampant sexual abuse in Indian film industry, he said, "What can we do? We cannot do any moral policing. We cannot keep moral cops outside every film office to see that no girl is being exploited."

If a singer in Pakistan — a country arguably more conservative than ours — can do it, why can't Bollywood superstars?

Dear actors, it's time you stopped exploiting a global movement for personal gains. That's mocking, discrediting it and the brave women it represents.

You must speak up, but in a way that counts. Because if not now, when? If not you, who?