The BUZZ

AND NOW, 'INTIMACY SUPERVISORS' ON SETS

Actress Celina Jaitly is calling for ‘intimacy supervisors’ in the film industry.

"In my humble opinion, this is just a first step towards implementation of (safeguards against) sexual harassment,” she said.

"Neutral communication and vigilance, and strict monitoring of the workplace are the most important duties of an intimacy supervisor."

Celina agrees that under normal circumstances, it is the director's job to ensure no limits of decency are crossed on the sets, but adds, “I have seen and experienced personally that… people in power are more likely to wrongly perceive that subordinates are sexually interested in them or available to harass.”

“Intimate scenes can be a breeding ground of sexual misconduct, to draw a fine line between misconduct and acting is treading on thin ice. This is a beginning towards the laying of foundations to fight sexual misconduct at work. Manisha Basu, our intimacy supervisor, was very effective on the sets of Seasons Greetings- she was an impartial and sensible bridge between the actors and the director."

Celina's advice to improve the work environment is to champion a zerotolerance policy on acts of discrimination and harassment in the workplace.