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It seems like the #MeToo movement in Bollywood is in full swing as more and more women stepping up and sharing their horrifying experiences.
Till now, several other prominent personalities from the industry including Rohit Roy, Subhash Ghai, Alok Nath, Kailash Kher, Vikas Bahl, Chetan Bhagat, Rajat Kapoor have been accused of sexual harassment.
And now the latest name who joins the list is director Sajid Khan. Yes, three women have spoken about the harassment they faced at the hands of Sajid. The names include actor Rachel White, assistant director Saloni Chopra and a journalist Karishma Upadhyay.
Model-actor Saloni Chopra accused Khan of sexual harassment in 2011 when she was working as his assistant director. Chopra recounted multiple instances of sexual harassment. “It took me years to get over the trauma he put me through. I was so scared around the people I worked with. And I’m sure he’s done this to so many other girls, I just want them to know they’re not alone. It’s been 7 years, and it’s about time I said it out loud,” Saloni wrote in her post.
I finally decided to share my story with you. Writing this was like re-living all that horrible past I’d chosen to let go of, but I knew if I don’t today, I may never. So here’s #metoo #MetooIndia https://t.co/brouTYIBC7
— Saloni Chopra (@redheadchopra) October 11, 2018
Rachel has also spoken at length about her trauma in a series of tweets. Retweeting Chopra’s tweet, she explained that during the making of Humshakals, Sajid asked her to come to his home, stared at her breasts and asked her to strip on the pretext that her role in the film required her to be in a bikini. She wrote: “I was in a white vest and blue denims and still felt I was standing nude with that gaze. What happens next is that he finishes his cardio and walks up to me asking me about my b**bs and making that kind of conversation. I didn’t bother to answer to anything.”
I believe you @redheadchopra I was sent by my agency then to meet Sajid Khan during Humshakals. Right after my agency told me about the meeting Sajid called me within the next 5 mins and said the meeting would be at his house opp iskon Juhu.
— Rachel White (@whitespeaking) October 11, 2018
I said I was not comfortable meeting at home and to that he said “don’t worry I live with my mom and she’ll be around” I felt reassured and agreed. When I went to his house the maid directed me to his room and the drawing room was empty!! It was his bedroom
— Rachel White (@whitespeaking) October 11, 2018
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I stood like an idiot in one corner of the bedroom wondering where to sit and he was on one side on the treadmill. I clearly rem this episode. When he saw me walk in he goes “pls come this side” all smiling . I walk up towards the treadmill . He was directly staring down at me
— Rachel White (@whitespeaking) October 11, 2018
I was in a white vest and blue denims and still felt I was standing nude with that gaze. What happens next is that he finishes his cardio and walks up to me asking me about my boobs and making that kind of conversation. I didn’t bother to answer to anything.
— Rachel White (@whitespeaking) October 11, 2018
After that he asks me to strip for him bcoz there were scenes in a bikini and he needed to see how I looked. I replied saying “there are pics of me in bikinis sent to u,I think that should good for u” n wen he insisted I said “I’m ready to parade ur office in a binkini nt at home
— Rachel White (@whitespeaking) October 11, 2018
Finally he goes “listen no one has a problem with these things” (and obviously named people) and that if I could seduce him in 5 mins the role was mine.
How this ended was me saying that I didn’t come mentally prepared for this and I left his house!— Rachel White (@whitespeaking) October 11, 2018
So yeah believe you with ur story. And I told u mine so that more people can believe you and stop making women look like attention seekers. ?
— Rachel White (@whitespeaking) October 11, 2018
A journalist, Karishma Upadhyay, on Twitter too narrated her tale of harassment by Sajid, who flashed his penis at her during the course of an interview. Speaking about it, she wrote: “The first time I interviewed Sajid Khan in the early 2000s, he called me to the house he shared w/ his sister. Thru the interview he talked about how large his penis is & how he knew how to satisfy a woman.”
Sajid Khan has preyed on women in the industry for years. Here’s my story. #MeToo pic.twitter.com/Rufzs9dsp6
— YellowGlassDragon (@karishmau) October 11, 2018
In the last two weeks, since the time Tanushree Dutta came out with details of harassment she faced on the sets of a 2008 film, Horn OK Pleassss, at the hands of veteran actor Nana Patekar, scores of women have spoken up in what is being seen as India’s #MeToo.
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