Divya Dutta on Bollywood being called toxic: We have a herd mentality, whatever someone says, everyone joins the bandwagon – bollywood

The narrative about the film industry in the past few months has been about how it’s a big bad world, and its toxic work environment has been making the headlines.

When asked what she makes of the whole discussion, Divya Dutta says, “I think we have a very herd mentality. Jo ek baat kehta hai sab wahi kehte hain . We grab on to that and that phase goes on. People will just harp on that for a while until something more interesting and catchy comes by to latch on to.”

The 42-year-old, who has been a part of the industry for over two decades now, feels that every workplace has its share of pros and cons.

“There is favoritism, groupism… I mean I don’t even get the whole insiders and outsiders thing because everyone who is good will make it, be it an outsider or insider. It is just the matter of that first opportunity. I agree that hamare liye initial time mushkil hota hai,” she explains. 

Further shedding light on how her journey started, Dutta says, “When I came to the industry, I didn’t know how to meet people, how to tell them that I’m good enough and how to get my first break. It was trial and error for us.”

However, apart from that, Dutta, who has been garnering a lot of praise for her performance in the web film Ram Singh Charlie, says everyone has to prove themselves and survive the audiences’ test.

“It can be a longer process for people like us but I’ve survived beautifully without being a part of any group, and so have a lot of other people. I think people respect you for who you are rather than which group you are a part of. You don’t have to be part and parcel of who they are to be accepted,” she points.

Dutta does admit that there will always cases where in mediocrity will be celebrated.

“Of course it’s annoying and I’d feel why are you praising that person just because it is a herd mentality as she is the new flavor of the season. That will take away from the real deserving one. But I think it is also a fun part. You have to know how to survive it and fight it,” she ends.