Nawaz could have stopped my trauma, he just looked on, says Chitrangda Singh
For Chitrangda Singh, the horrific incident that occurred on the sets of Kushan Nandy’s Babumoshai Bandookbaaz in 2016 is still fresh in her mind.
For those unaware, Chitrangda was asked to enact an intimate scene with the film’s leading man Nawazuddin Siddiqui. When the actress said that she was uncomfortable with the scene, she was showered with taunts and was asked to leave.
Recalling the ghastly episode Chitrangda says, “I’d like nothing better than to forget about it. But the incident refuses to go away. I had spoken about it when it happened two years ago. But I was declared ‘troublesome’ and ‘moody’ and made to pack my bags. They found a replacement for me overnight (Bidita Bag) who went around saying how lucky she was to get such a role.”
For the scene, Chitrangda was asked to take off her saree and gyrate against the hero.
“I pleaded that this was not in my comfort zone. I said I was wearing only a petticoat underneath the saree. The director told me not to fuss and just do what was required. I was intimidated, bullied and threatened into doing it. Some crew members were mortified. But Nawaz just sat there waiting for the storm to blow over,” recalls Chitrangda. Post the incident, the actress retired to her van. Later, Nawazuddin paid her a visit. “He didn’t ask me if I was okay. He just asked, ‘Are you doing the scene’? I said ‘no’. He left. Nawaz could’ve taken a stand against my harassment. He didn’t. When empowered men in the film industry do not take a stand, the harassers feel encouraged,” she insists.
Chitrangda also believes that for exploitation to stop, women in the film industry have to stick together. “How can men take our voices of dissent seriously when another actress walks right into a role after one actress says she’s been harassed? It is true that women are the worst enemies of their own kind. Even when I was being harassed on the sets of Babumoshai Bandookbaaz the film’s lady producer was there making things worse for me,” she rues.
