Bollywood Baatein: Ek ‘Pearl’ Ka Jeena…

I didn’t know who Pearl V. Puri was until this whole sordid incident. The young television actor (31) has been charged with a serious offence, which has to do with violating a minor girl way back in 2019. It sickens me to know that such a crime can be committed against a child.

But what if the one being accused is not guilty?

This seems to be what many of Pearl’s supporters from the television and film industry seem to be suggesting; that he is incapable of such a heinous crime. Many of his friends are, understandably, afraid to speak up. As one of them told me, “The Pearl I know is not capable of such a crime. But what if there is some truth to the accusation?”

But that’s just the way we are. Not ready to stick our necks out, no matter how close we are to a person in the dock. It’s this young man’s life at stake, for God’s sake! But in Pearl’s case I see something else. Something I’ve never seen before in a rape-accused incident.

Several well-known figures from the television industry are openly speaking up in Pearl’s defence.

First it was Ekta Kapoor who is to the tv fraternity what Baba Ramdev is to the Ayurveda industry. When this lady speaks, we listen. And she spoke out in Pearl’s defence immediately after his arrest and further consolidated her arguments with a “leaked” telephone conversation where the alleged victim’s mother is clearly heard giving Pearl a clean chit.

Here let me pause to wonder, why is only the alleged victim’s identity protected, why not protect the alleged offender’s name as well? Revealing the name of the alleged offender even before the trial and even before he is found guilty, is unfair and presumptuous. Are we all not presuming that Pearl’s promising young life and career are over? Are we not taking his guilt for granted?

Not so fast. In my opinion the matter is now gone far beyond a legal issue. Thanks to a social-media post from that very admirable lady Divya Khosla. For those who don’t know this lovely lady, she is music baron Bhushan Kumar’s wife. But there is much to her than that. At the moment I see her as beacon of bravery in an industry filled with cowards and shirkers.

Standing up to speak for Pearl, Divya has bluntly questioned the alleged victim’s parents about their role in the entire sordid incident. Divya has made some very serious allegations against the girl’s father. Could Pearl be a scapegoat in an ugly custody battle between the warring couple? The police should immediately take serious note of Divya Khosla’ post.

In an industry where your closest friends abandon you when you are in trouble (“what if it’s true?) here is a voice that has spoken up for what she feels is a grave miscarriage of justice.

I have to admit that I get a gut feeling Pearl is innocent. Let me reiterate, I don’t know him at all. But from what I hear, it just doesn’t make sense.

If and when Pearl is proven innocent, who will give him back his life and career? Who will compensate for the suffering that his family is going through? MeToo is a great movement. I support it completely. But it’s ironic that while the real offenders are going scot free, making movies, earning hundreds of crores and judging music contests, some bewildered boy just starting out in life is at this very moment sitting in a lockup wondering what went wrong.