Chitrangda Singh shares the stroy when she was harassed back in 2016 for Kushan Nandy’s Babumoshai Bandookbaaz. She was asked to do a vulgar love-making sequence with the film’s leading man Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
She said, “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.”
She further said that unless women in the film industry come together to protest against exploitation, it won’t stop. “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.”
Chitrangda Singh was asked to take off her saree get on top of her hero and rub herself. “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.
After the harassment and bullying, Chitrangda Singh retired into her van to weep. A little later she recalls director Kushan Nandy paying 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.”
