'Dono taraf pair karke ragdo': Chitrangda Singh recalls the harassment she went through on Babumoshai Bandookbaaz sets

In the wake of the ongoing #MeToo movement in India, when a number of women have called out the predators and the sexual harassment that they had to go through while at work, at the hands of the men in power, actress Chitrangda Singh too recounted her harrowing experience while shooting for Nawazuddin Siddiqui starrer Kushan Nandy film Babumoshai Bandookbaaz. The actress had walked out the the film after being allegedly harassed by the director Kushan Nandy, while she was in the middle of shooting an intimate scene with Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

Chitrangda Singh told Mumbai Mirror that she was supposed to shoot for a 'passionate' intimate scene with Nawaz but it was described quite vaguely in the script. When she had asked Kushan about how he wanted to shoot that scene about a year before the film went on floors, the director had told her, "Writers ka kaam hai, who likh dete hain, passion and all. We will see how we shoot it.”

The actress further told the tabloid,"When we started filming said scene, he kept on insisting that it needed more passion and subsequently, more takes. After a point, Nawaz told him that it was enough, but he wasn’t convinced and got angry. When I tried to reason with him, saying that I could only do so much in a sari, he said, “Dono taraf pair karke ragdo.” He insisted that I get on top of Nawaz which I couldn’t do, but he snapped at me, saying, “Upar karo and go astride.” Eventually, he got on top of Nawaz to explain what he wanted me to do. I was teary-eyed by then, but he insisted that I do as he said since he was the director."

Chitrangda added, "Nobody uttered a word and I left for my van. Kushan followed me in. When I refused to do the scene his way, he flung the script at me, which almost hit me, before storming out."

The actress also shared that at that point of time, Nawazuddin did intervene and reprimanded Kushan for using such crude language. Later Bidita Bag replaced her in the film and during the promotions, Nawazuddin apparently said that Chitrangda refused to kiss him because he has a dark complexion.

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