Luv Ranjan, who tasted success this year with Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety, joins the list of directors/actors accused of sexual harassment in wake of the #MeToo movement in India.
In conversation with Mid-Day, an actress (who is anonymously reported) recalled the incident that took place in 2010.
She was allegedly asked in 2010 by director Luv Ranjan to strip down to her panties during an audition for a movie.
She’d left the audition after mentioning she wasn’t comfortable doing so.
While in another uncomfortable conversation with Ranjan followed, where he asked her if she masturbates.
She ended up pulling out of the film, a decision that was met with several messages from Ranjan telling her she’d ‘misunderstood’ him.
While speaking with Mid-Day, the actress quoted, “IT was 2010. I was 24, and had done two small roles in big movies opposite well-known actors, and was in the auditioning phase.
I was called by Vicky Sidana, a casting director, who said that the auditions for Pyaar Ka Punchnama were on, and a very short list of girls had been called for them.
I trusted him and hence, went for it. The dress code was a short skirt and a tight top, which was fairly common, and wasn’t a problem with me.
There were seven to eight girls there, and the strange part was that they didn’t give us dialogues as they would usually ask you to enact the scene. This was supposedly only a look test.”
Speaking about the incident happened while auditioning with Luv, at Kumar Mangat’s Office, she shared:
“Luv Ranjan said there was a kissing scene and bikini scene in the movie and asked if I was fine with that, to which I said yes. He said he wanted to see what I’d look like in a bikini.
Later in life, when I gave another audition for a movie, there was a female stylist who gave me a bikini to do a look test in the presence of lots of people.
Luv asked me to strip down to my bra and panties. He said he wanted to see my body so he could check if I needed to lose weight.
He said they were not recording anything and the cinematographer would also leave the room, so I needn’t worry. After that, it all gets blurry.
My heart was pounding and I rushed out saying I had to leave and wasn’t comfortable with it. I went home and tried to forget about it.”
However, the ordeal did not stop there.
The director further asked if she was virgin and ever used condoms to which the actress was literally shocked. “Then he asked me if I used condoms.
The last straw was him asking me if I masturbate. By then, I was scared and asked if I could leave.
He said I shouldn’t misunderstand him, and called the three guys into the room and asked them, “Do you trust me enough as a director, that if I were to ask you to drop your pants, you would?”
When asked about the allegation, Luv Ranjan refuted it and said, “It’s absurd. It’s so absurd that I don’t know what to say except that I deny it.
I don’t know how to react to an anonymous allegation beyond this and am willing to face any legitimate enquiry”, as reported by Mid-day.
