Mumbai29 minutes agoAuthor: Virendra Mishra
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'The man introduced himself as the director of Balaji Telefilms. He said that he would get me a job, I just had to give an audition. He took me to his house. There he made me drink alcohol. Under the influence of alcohol, he raped me.'
Actress Gehana Vasisht told this to Dainik Bhaskar. According to Gehana, many times she was asked for sexual favors in the name of giving work. She was harassed many times. When she felt that she would not get work in mainstream cinema, she turned to B grade films to meet her expenses.
After the Hema Committee report on Malayalam cinema, the issue of workplace harassment of actresses has started being discussed again. This issue has already been raised in the Hindi film industry during the MeToo movement in 2018.
In this connection, apart from Gehna, we also spoke to another actress Nirali Pandya. She too has told how the casting agency people tried to misbehave with her.
Case-1: Gehna Vashisht I come from a small village in Chhattisgarh. I was very good in studies. I got 163rd rank in IIT JEE. However, I had a dream of becoming an actress since childhood. Even if our small photo appeared in a newspaper, it was a big deal. Initially, I knew the names of only one or two production houses. Among these, I had heard a lot about Balaji Production. I had a dream of working with them, but as soon as I came to Mumbai, I was introduced to a different world.
Gehna Vashisht is 36 years old. Currently she is active in film production.
First allegation- The coordinator sent her to the producer on the pretext of getting her a job in Salman Khan's film I came to Mumbai for the first time in 2011. Before coming to Mumbai, I had spoken to a coordinator named Rajesh Nirala. He told me that he would get me work in films. I met him as soon as I came to Mumbai. He told me that he would get me work in Salman Khan's film. My happiness knew no bounds when I heard this.
After a week, he took me to a producer. As soon as I reached there, he pushed me inside the room and locked the door from outside. Inside the room, the producer raped me, due to which my clothes got torn. When I started screaming, he left me. Somehow I managed to escape from there. The first experience itself was very bad.
Second allegation- A man who claimed to be a director made her drink alcohol and raped her It was 2012, a year had passed since I came to Mumbai. It was necessary to get work to run the household. One day I met a man. He told me his name was Praveen Johan and said that he is a director in Balaji Telefilms. I got convinced by his words. He called me to his house. There he said that if you want to work in films, you will have to open up a bit. He asked me to drink the liquor kept nearby.
When I refused, he said that there is a scene in the film where you have to drink alcohol, so first show me a demo. He cleverly made me drink a lot of alcohol. When I was completely drunk, he raped me.
After regaining consciousness, I stumbled out of there and fell into a ditch in front of that house. Someone picked me up from there and dropped me home. After this incident, I stayed in the hospital for a week.
When Gehna did not get work in Hindi films, she turned to South cinema. There she worked in more than 2 dozen films.
Third allegation- Director Sai Kabir touched her waist and said- befriend me and I will make you a heroine Whichever producer I went to for work, I was asked to compromise. It was 5-6 years ago. I went to meet director Sai Kabir. Someone told me that if I meet him, I will get work. Since Sai Kabir had directed Kangana Ranaut's film Revolver Rani and Tiku Weds Sheru, I found him to be an influential person.
When I went to his house, there were liquor bottles placed all over the table. He came and sat next to me and started caressing my waist. He said, befriend me and I will make you a heroine. I said, Sir, I have forgotten my keys, I have to leave now. He said, will you come again? Without saying anything, I left from there.
To confirm these allegations, we tried to talk to Sai Kabir, but his phone is continuously switched off.
Fourth allegation- A very big producer and owner of a music company asked me to compromise I met a coordinator, he introduced me to a very big producer of the industry and the owner of a music company. That producer said, Gehna, you are very talented, I will give you work in one of my projects, you just have to come to the room with me. I understood his intentions. After this, he tried to contact me many times, but I did not respond to him.
I came to Mumbai with a dream of becoming a successful heroine, but so many incidents happened with me that I was completely broken from inside.
Now the question is, if you have been exploited for so many years, then why did you not complain about it to the police? Jewel said- It takes a lot of courage to raise your voice. There was a fear that if you spoke out, you would be thrown out of the industry. Tanushree Dutta's case was already filed, but she spoke out only during the MeToo movement. She knew that if she spoke out at that time, she would not get work. This is a very bad situation for an actress.
Case-2: Nirali Pandya My family is Gujarati, but I am from Mumbai. I have worked in a Gujarati film and have also appeared in some big ad videos. I wanted fame since childhood, but after coming into the industry, I realized that one has to endure a lot to be successful here.
Nirali is currently leading a campaign to make women financially independent and empowered.
The casting people used to look at me with wrong intentions and asked me to be friends My career started in 2018. My family did not like me working in the film industry. They had already warned me that surviving in the industry is not easy, especially for girls. Somehow they gave me permission to join the industry.
I started giving auditions. I contacted many casting agencies. I was even selected once, but when I went for the interview, the experience was bad. The casting people used to look at me with wrong intentions. They used to come and sit next to me. They used to look here and there. They used to say that if you want to move ahead, you will have to make friends. They used to call compromises as friendship. This happened not once, but many times. Then I understood why my family members did not want me to be a part of the film industry.
To avoid all these things, I kept a distance from auditions and casting agencies. Currently, I have started my own podcast. I am also working for the upliftment of women. Now if any offer comes from the front, I will see, but I will not go and ask for work on my own.
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