National Award Winner Odia Director Bijaya Jena Tears Into ‘Big, Bad’ Bollywood

Bhubaneswar: Amidst the outpouring of sympathies by Bollywood celebrities following the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, Odia filmmaker and actress Bijaya Jena has criticised the Mumbai film industry as always being “selfish, narcissistic and dangerous” making it difficult for outsiders to make a mark.

“After topping the screen test of the film school and appreciated by the A-list photographers of the city (Mumbai) for having a perfect symmetrical face and a billion dollar smile, nobody helped me but my family,” she wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

Jena, who won the National Film Award (Best Director) for the Odia language film Tara, also called out the sham by film industry insiders who pretend to be friends for their ulterior motives.

“Friends who would invite you for dinners, parties would do it so that you would add glamour and intelligence to their shallow parties but they would never ever HELP you. I was close to a famous film family. When I started my own production and was exhausted of all my money, asked this family for $40 to apply to NFDC for a loan, they refused. Then I realised these shallow people are not worthy of my friendship,” wrote the actress who has acted in Hindi films that include KA Abbas’ ‘The Naxalites’, Kamal Amrohi’s ‘Razia Sultan’ and Ketan Mehta’s ‘Holi’.

“One has to fight it with the backing of one’s family not with these selfish guys around. A dear friend also turned a producer and produced two high profile films but would never think of offering a cameo role like I think of doing for my talented friends,” she added.

Also Read: Bollywood’s Sudden Love For Sushant Singh Rajput, An Insult To The Dead: Saif Ali Khan

She specially targeted acclaimed filmmaker Sekhar Kapur, who ironically has voiced protest against the treatment meted out to outsiders in Bollywood after Sushant Singh Rajput’s death.

“I auditioned for a toothpaste Ad for Sekhar Kapur. He loved my smile but said the client has already selected his girlfriend. Even Sekhar Kapur is no friend and would not bother to help anybody even though he has the power to do so. I have tried to seek his help for my Hollywood project few years ago but to no avail. He tweets these words of sympathy but would never help anybody not even his ex-wife,” she posted.

The versatile artiste has also exposed that the ‘casting couch’ phenomenon is rampant in the Mumbai film industry. “Bollywood has been always selfish, narcissistic and dangerous for girls. Casting couch existed and exists today. Hollywood might have overcome the rape of teenager Natalie Wood and changed for the better but Bollywood has not changed much. I finished two years in a film school and was a teenager when I arrived in Bollywood. I evaded situations like Natalie Wood,” she wrote in her post.

Also Read: Fans Blast Karan Johar & Alia Bhatt For Mocking Sushant Singh Rajput In Past