Former Bigg Boss star Mandana Karimi accuses Kya Kool Hain Hum 3 director Umesh Ghadge of on-set harassment

12 Oct 2018

Mandana Karimi, known for making her on-screen stint on Bigg Boss, is the latest female celebrity who has shared her #MeToo story. The actress has accused her Kya Kool Hain Hum 3 director Umesh Ghadge of harassment. I have been living in India for like seven years now. I am glad that finally, #MeToo movement has begun in India. It is a great time for women who are finally talking about the issue that has been happening. They are coming out and talking about something that has been happening for many years. It is a very exciting time to be in India when this movement is happening, she told during media interaction on Friday. She added, Three years ago, when I got married, there was a reason for me to just get married. I was like I had worked for many years not just in India but in Iran as well. Being a woman, it is difficult being part of any industry. Sexual harassment, workplace issues happens everywhere. I have been working for so many years and I got tired. Even in Iran, to talk about these kinds of issue, it is always like the family will get affected, the name will be destroyed and so on. If you come up front and say that it has also happened with me then the familys name gets affected. I am also coming from that culture and I never wanted to talk about it. I did not want to give any name or anything. For me, the first guy I fall in love, I just wanted to get married and did not want to talk about it. I was also tired and you know what, I did not want to deal with it anymore. But, that was my mistake. My director (Umesh Ghadge) really misbehaved with me and told me she doesnt know how to dance. Every day, something would happen on the set before we went for our shoot. The reasons would be that she is not Indian, she is not fluent in Hindi, cant dance and so on. The real reason was that I wasnt coochie coochie to my director. I have gone through that. I was lucky that I had a female producer, I spoke to them and they took care of it. But, it did not stop him from not harassing me on set. I would have been the first one on set at 8am waiting for everybody and no one was on set. There was harassment every single day. Until I finished my shoot and I came back to Mumbai, she further added. While, during the media interaction she did not take names, Madana Karimi spoke to ANI News to talk more in detail. An experience led me to leave my profession which I loved. Harassment doesnt mean to touch me, it means to make my life hell. I was too miserable. I didnt talk to anybody about it. It was my Kya Kool Hain Hum 3 director. His name is Umesh (Umesh Ghadge). Umesh Ghadge started harassing me by changing the steps in the song,putting other people in the song saying this is last minute decision. Calling me early on set, asking me to wear clothes that I was not even supposed to wear, keeping me waiting, she said.