New Delhi: The #MeToo movement has hit Bollywood big time with several actresses opening up on their horrid experiences of sexual harassment at workplace. Popular celebrities such as Alok Nath, Sajid Khan, Subhash Ghai, Vikas Bahl, Kailash Kher among others have been accused of harassment by fellow co-workers.
Recently, in an interview with The Quint, veteran actress and Alia Bhatt's mother Soni Razdan opened up on her #MeToo story and revealed that even though she was lucky enough to not have faced any sexual harassment while approaching for work but she did battle out a harrowing experience.
Soni Razdan narrated an incident when someone tried to rape her but she managed to escape. She told The Quint, “Like there was an incident that happened to me when I was on a film shoot and somebody tried to rape me, for example, that kind of thing. Luckily they didn’t succeed.”
When asked why she didn't report the incident back then, Mahesh Bhatt's wife said, “You know the only reason I never said anything at that time and it sounds really odd maybe but I realised if I would have opened my mouth that person would have gone through a lot of problems. He had a family, small children. And at that time I said, ok, nothing really happened, I managed to control it but obviously I never spoke to that person again. I did not, not talk about it because of any shame or anything like that. I felt that I would be hurting his family, whom I knew.”
Adding further that had it happened today, she would have surely reacted differently. She said, “But I don’t know if today it would have happened, I don’t think I would have done the same thing. I wouldn’t have been that magnanimous, I would have complained about it I think.”
Soni Razdan also spoke about Alok Nath and how his behaviour was questionable at times. She said, “I have seen him behave very very, I would say lecherously after he has been drunk. Even at one time, I wouldn’t say he made a pass at me but I didn’t like the way he was looking at me.”
The #MeToo movement kickstarted in India after actress Tanushree Dutta accused Nana Patekar of sexually harassing her during the shoot of a song in 'Horn Ok Pleassss” in 2008.
The senior actor meanwhile has rubbished all the claims.
