New Delhi: A television actress, who works in Doordarshan's serial 'Pavitra Bandhan' has filed a complaint to the Cine and Television Artistes Association accusing her co-actor of molesting her during the shooting of a kidnapping scene.
The incident took place on August 3 and according to sources the actor refused to apologise even after she screamed at him twice. Production house Balaji Telefilms has been asked to take ‘strict action' against Zakir Khan.
She alleged that her co- star, Zakir Khan, misbehaved with her. The scene required three goons to kidnap her after making her unconscious and her co-star tried to touch her chest.
“In the next shot, the three goons had to hold me and Zakir Khan had to make me unconscious. When the shot started, he stood behind me and gagged my mouth with a handkerchief. He kept his other hand on my chest and started rubbing it. I struggled, but the other men had held me so tightly that I couldn't do anything. After the shot, I yelled at him but he behaved as if nothing had happened,” described the actress in her letter as quoted by a leading daily.
When the woman went up to the production house, they allegedly told her to cooperate and complete the sequence.
“Later, the director wanted a front shot, so I told them I would do it in the presence of a production person. Still, Zakir held my shoulder in a weird manner and I screamed again at him.” Responding to this, Khan, according to the actress, said, “Tum bawaal kyun kar rahi ho, aur tum ho kaun? Aise scene mein kahin pe bhi haath lag sakta hain hai”.
The actress added that Zakir Khan refused to apologise for his actions, and said that he didn't want to work with her. The actress wanted to go to the police, but the production house stopped her, saying CINTAA would give her justice.
Sudhir Pandey, a committee member of CINTAA, confirmed having received the complaint. “We will call an emergency meeting after going into the details of the complaint. From what we have learnt, it could be a serious matter and strict action will be taken against the member.” When asked about Khan, Pandey added, “There are 6,000 members; we will find out who he is and summon him in the case.”
CINTAA has also written to the producers' body, Indian Film and Television Producers Council (IFTPC), on August 9 and has also written to Balaji Telefilms to take strict action against Khan.
Vikas Mohan, senior vice- president, IFTPC, was quoted by a leading daily saying, “It is a shameful thing and we have asked our member producer to take strict against the actor who has misbehaved with the actress.” Ketan Gupta, COO of Balaji Telefilms, was unavailable for comment.
The incident is under consideration and the actress is hopeful that she will get justice.
