As empowering as the #MeToo movement is for women, the sheer number of accounts that have emerged can send a shiver down your spine. This devastating reality is what women have to live with every day. The #MeToo accused, against whom multiple women have spoken up, still continue to maintan they’re innocent. And this only serves to further rub salt in our wounds.
Adding another name to the list of woman who’ve spoken up against director Sajid Khan is actress Aahana Kumra.
In an interview with TOI, the Lipstick Under My Burkha actress spoke about her struggles in the industry and the #MeToo movement.
Speaking of her encounter with Sajid Khan, Aahana revealed that her meeting with the director went exactly the way actress Saloni Chopra had described in her #MeToo story about him.
She took the meeting with Sajid Khan a year ago at his home, aware of his reputation as a “shady guy”. She was escorted to his bedroom, where the lights were turned off. When Aahana asked him why they couldn’t sit outside, he claimed that he didn’t want to disturb his mother.
While she says that he didn’t make a pass at her, he claimed that he wanted to get to know her.
“He wanted to chat with me. I told him my mom’s a police officer which I think made him behave. But he still asked me bizarre questions like, ‘Would you have sex with a dog if I gave you Rs 100 crore?'”
Elaborating further on how aspiring actresses are treated in the industry, Aahana revealed how directors and talent managers talk to newcomers about their looks, instead of their acting prowess.
“Sajid Khan once messaged me, ‘Oh, you can look hot in a bikini also!’ I think it shocked him that I could look good in a bikini.”
She even spoke about her uncofortable encounter with another #MeToo accused, talent management agency KWAN’s CEO Anirban Das Blah.
“Anirban Blah met me at the lobby of a five-star hotel and said, ‘There’s a room here, let’s negotiate there.’ I walked out of that meeting because I wasn’t comfortable. It didn’t go well with me.”
Aahana echoes what is already an open secret about how aspiring actresses are treated in the industry. These #MeToo revelations further go on to prove that for men in power, abusing their position to secure sexual favours is not merely a matter of sex, but a powerplay.