Pune Times

The Indian women's football team has reclaimed the SAFF Championship title after a seven-year hiatus, defeating the defending champions, Bangladesh, in a 3-1 final.

The damage doesn't end with an apology

Nine years after accusing producer Sanjay Kohli of sexual harassment, actress Shilpa Shinde recently admitted on a podcast that her allegations were false. Explaining her recent return to the show Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain!, she stated:

*"No one, including Sanjay Kohli's wife, asked me to clarify anything. But I was carrying a lie inside me, and that was hurting me. That's why I decided to speak up."*

This is not a simple clarification, nor is it a standard apology. With a few casual remarks on a podcast, Shinde has raised questions about years of courageous, painstaking work by women fighting for workplace safety. In one fell swoop, she has undermined a battle that took a generation to build. Reporting misconduct and calling out powerful men in the workplace has never been easy; Shinde has just made it significantly harder.

When a prominent celebrity makes a false allegation because she was in the midst of a workplace dispute, she actively harms the cause of every survivor struggling to find the courage to speak up. Shinde has not only silenced genuine voices; she legitimised a lie for nearly a decade, feeding directly into the patriarchal narrative that women use these laws as vendettas.

In late 2017, it took the singular voice of actor Alyssa Milano to ignite the global campaign, creating a safe space that eventually brought down powerful predators like Harvey Weinstein. The ripple effect reverberated across the globe, eventually arriving in India. For a brief moment, as women spoke out, it felt as though film industries across the country were finally being forced to confront their worst secrets.

Accountability seemed within reach. But that momentum was tragically short-lived, proving just how deeply entrenched the systemic power imbalances truly are. The consequences for perpetrators have been fleeting, the one-year ban handed to filmmaker Sajid Khan by the IFTDA in 2018 is a case in point. Meanwhile, survivors face endless trauma.

(Continued in comments...) Writes .aziz

Aamir Khan and Gauri Spratt are set to have an intimate registered marriage ceremony on July 5!

When two legends take the stage, you listen.

From stories about theatre and acting to reflections on craft, discipline and the journey of becoming, Naseeruddin Shah and Paresh Rawal turned a conversation into a masterclass at the Shreeram Lagoo National Theatre Festival. An evening filled with insight, honesty and the kind of wisdom that only comes from decades under the spotlight.