'No Low Necklines On Salman Khan's Sets': Control Under The Guise Of Protection

Palak Tiwari, Shweta Tiwari’s daughter, who is making her debut with Salman Khan in Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan, has already carved a name for herself in the industry. She has previously worked with Khan as an assistant director on Antim. Tiwari revealed in an interview how Salman Khan ensures the "safety" of women on his sets.

Tiwari shared how Salman Khan has a rule on his set that no girl should wear clothes with low necklines. He wanted women to dress modestly without revealing much skin. Apparently, women should be covered like "good, proper girls." Tiwari explained that Khan, being a traditionalist, believed that "his girls" could wear whatever they wanted but was very concerned about their protection.

Since film sets aren't his personal space where he trusts everyone, he is concerned about the safety of the women around him. Tiwari shared about how her mother, Shweta Tiwari, was surprised to see her dressed in a proper shirt, joggers, and all.  When she told her mom that she was going to Salma sir’s set, she said, "Wow, very good."

Salman Khan Dress Rules For Women

This entire incident demonstrates the problem that persists in a patriarchal society like ours. Salman Khan wants "his girls" to be safe, so he insists that they cover themselves like "good girls do." Palak Tiwari doesn’t seem to be offended but is rather chill about it. Shweta Tiwari, as a mother, is glad that Salman Khan is ensuring women’s safety by controlling them.

Why isn’t Salman Khan ensuring that the men in his sets know and respect boundaries and consent, and that they don’t misbehave or harass women? Isn’t that what he should be focusing on if he is truly concerned about women’s safety? Instead, here he is policing women’s clothing! So, does he mean that a woman wearing a not-so-covered" outfit will be held accountable if someone harasses her?

It is highly problematic and misleading when an actor like Salman Khan, with a massive fan following, imposes such rules under the guise of protecting women.

It honestly makes one wonder if he is aware that he is disrespecting women’s agency over their lives. Who gives him the entitlement to police women’s clothing? And what does he mean by "cover like good girls?" Is he implying that women who wear low necklines are not "good girls?"

Excuse me, but what defines a good girl? Someone who adheres to patriarchal expectations of a woman? If giving up our right to agency over life and being submissive makes us good girls, then let us be the bad girls! What does Salman Khan mean by "his girls?" Is he claiming ownership over women who work with him? Even if he didn’t mean it that way, the phrase is highly problematic!

It looks like playing the white knight and saving many fictional damsels in distress over the years has really gotten to him. Now he seems to want to play the real-life hero and moral police women! When an actor of his stature says something like this, he is normalising society's control over women's agency over their lives. Today’s modern women don’t want to be policed by their own brothers. So, Bhai, can you please not impose "rules" on women to protect them? This seems more like controlling than protecting.

How long are we going to hold women responsible for ensuring their safety? It’s never a woman’s fault to be on the receiving end of a crime. No matter what she wears, who she is with, where she is, or what time of the day it is, nothing matters when a crime is committed against her! The perpetrator should be held accountable for the crime they committed and penalised at the earliest! When are men going to start calling out offenders from their own clan? Isn’t that the logical solution to stop providing a safe environment to women?

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Views expressed by the author are their own