Kangana Ranaut who is currently hosting the web reality show named ‘Lock Upp’, revealed the dark secrets of Bollywood on Sunday as she said that sexual exploitation is common in the film or fashion industry. In the Judgement Day episode, the actress stated that ‘sexual exploitation shatters many dreams and leaves people permanently scarred. “Yeh kaala sach hai (this is the black truth)”, she said.
This is after Saisha Shinde, the transwoman contestant on the show shared her secret in presence of other contestants. She said that she was cheated and sexually exploited by one of her favourite fashion designers at the beginning of her career. “This is one secret that I have never brought out. It was the year 2005 or 2006. My career had just started. I met one of my favourite fashion designers. He called me to his hotel room and said that he was feeling disturbed. He said that his life had become a suitcase. I felt bad. I hugged him and we had sex”, she said (Timestamp- 28.07).
Saisha added that she felt cheated when she explored the fact that the designer had narrated the same story to 7-8 more boys had exploited them as well. “Things like these spread like fire in the industry and soon I was banned from the fashion week. The designer had spread the rumours that I had exposed him but the fact is that I hadn’t told his secret to anyone. I was exploited and later I only had to suffer”, she added.
Saisha also said that the unnamed designer had a boyfriend in every metropolitan city. The host appreciated Saisha for raising the issue and stated that sexual exploitation is the black truth of the industry. She said that sexual exploitation is very common in the film industry and fashion industry. “Sexual exploitation happens in every industry, be it the corporate industry, hotel industry, etc but what happens in the film industry is that people assume that they have a license to exploit the newcomers or the models. They think that its okay to exploit those who wear fewer clothes or those who showoff their skin in the public”, Kangana Ranaut said on May 1 (Timestamp- 30.28)
The actress-host also raised the issue of the Me Too campaign and said that all the girls who had revealed prominent names in the industry have been washed out of their jobs. “Nothing happened about the Me Too campaign. All those girls who came out then are nowhere seen today. Even I was banned from the industry when I supported some of the victim girls. So this is common and this happens often in the film and fashion industry”, she added.
Earlier, Kangana Ranaut on the show had revealed that she was sexually assaulted as a child. Recalling the incidents that happened when she was a child, Ranaut said, “I was a little kid and was not aware what exactly was happening. There was a boy in my town who lived nearby. He inappropriately touched me. This guy was three to four years older than me, perhaps he was exploring his sexuality. He would call us, get us all to strip and check us. We would not understand it at the time”, she had said.
She added a lot of kids go through the same experience every year, but people hesitate to take the issue to a public platform. “Sexual assault on children is a huge crisis in society”, Kangana had said on April 24. The web show ‘Lock Upp’ produced by Ekta Kapoor streams on ALTBalaji and MXPlayer. The show that is gearing towards its grand finale is hosted by Actress Kangana Ranaut while actor Karan Kundrra acts as the jailer of the show.