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Sting Theory
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Villain on screen and now off it. Shakti Kapoor
never thought his twilight years in the Hindi film industry would turn out like
this. Last month, he was caught on tape making blatant advances towards an
“aspiring” actress. It was a set up by Suhaib Ilyasi of India’s Most Wanted fame
for a sting operation on India TV to expose the casting couch syndrome. Ilyasi,
who anchored the entire expose, talks to Nishtha Shukla on why this expose was
important to India.
You are doing a lot of exposes.
The casting couch exists in every work place. We have done nothing
extraordinary. We’ve only collected evidences. I’m glad a debate has been
initiated. Now it is up to the nation, Parliament and associations at work
places to decide what they want to do about it.
What do you think of the I&B ministry’s notice to India TV?
The notice is for the MLA videos that I haven’t done so I can’t comment. But it
is a marvellous job. It has been appreciated by MPs as well.
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But is a set up justified?
I’ll give you an example. A thief doesn’t enter the house in broad daylight. He
steals in when it is quiet and private. He’s enjoying his privacy while
committing a crime. If you get a hidden camera and shoot and he turns around and
says, ‘look you’ve compromised on my privacy’, what will you say to that?
But are your means justified?
We had to show the modus operandi. The CBI and the police employ these methods.
Journalists have often used these methods. We wanted to show how these people
behave when a female is not ready to compromise.
Do we need policy changes regarding laws against surreptitious recording?
Regulations are needed for sure. But we have all the rights to expose the
wrongdoings of a person with a hidden camera.
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Those caught on tape say the tapes have been edited?
These are one-go tapes and have not been played with.
Are you compromising on journalism?
We haven’t used prostitutes and liquor to prove our point unlike other sting
operations.
Any scoops lined up?
We have one big hungama about actress Poonam Dhillon and her associates who
collected money for the tsunami victims and what they did about it. (Suhaib and
his team found a room full of relief material lying unused with Nisha Sagar,
daughter of Ramanand Sagar, that was supposed to be sent to tsunami-affected
area).
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Quote: There is nothing called the casting couch and the industry is standing by
me now
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