Actor Kritika Sharma accuses casting director Vicky Sidana of attempted rape, he denies it

Kritika Sharma has accused top Bollywood casting director Vicky Sidana of attempted rape in 2013. On HT’s query, he replied to deny the charge.

The Me Too revelations refuse to die down with many women coming forward to narrate harrowing tales of sexual harassment. After actor Kritika Sharma on Sunday accused Bollywood casting director Vicky Sidana of attempted rape almost six years ago, he has denied the charge.

Kritika Sharma spoke of an incident that took place in 2013. (Zoom TV)

In response to a query from Hindustan Times, Vicky replied with a message, saying: “Over the past 10 years while working as a casting director, I have routinely met and auditioned thousands of aspiring actors while scouting for new talent. My casting process is quite transparent and I take great efforts to make sure the actors who come to me, feel completely safe and respected. Meeting new people is a part of my job, but that does not mean that someone can come up with baseless allegations against me based on such meeting. They have to come to me with clean hands. I will not take such allegations lightly. I strongly and completely deny it.”

Earlier, speaking to Zoom TV, Kritika had narrated how it all began when she went for an audition to Delhi’s Mandi House area for an upcoming Bollywood film in 2013, where she first met Vicky. She was asked to enact a scene which had a lot of abusive words and she found it difficult to mouth the words.

She was later called to Mumbai after being told that she was shortlisted for the film. Unable to find an accommodation, she called Vicky who promised to find some place with his female friends for her to stay. “From the airport, I straightway went to his office. The first question he asks me: ‘Let’s talk business. Agar mein teri help karta hoon, toh mujhe kya milega?’ So I understood what he was trying to ask me and I was like if I become a known person then people will automatically know that you were the person who cast me. He was like ‘tu uski chinta mat kar, mera naam bahot hai already, toh usko tu bhul jaa; tu mujhe yeh bata ke tu mere liye kya kar sakti hai.’ He didn’t get a reply from me.”

Kritika claimed that he said that his friends had backtracked and he would host her at his residence instead. She said she agreed as he said he was married and his wife will be home. She claims he made personal comments about her breasts on the way.

Later, at his home, he offered her vodka and when she refused, he reasoned that as an actor she would have to drink and smoke. All along his wife stood there, without saying a word. Next day, he took her to a building, insisting that they were to meet director Luv Ranjan’s assistant. On reaching the place, he asked her to wait while he met a person and then told her that the meeting was upstairs. As soon as they reached the room, he shut the door and pushed her onto the bed and pulled her pants and tried to force himself on her. The actor allegedly kept pleading with him “to let her go” but he refused to stop. She told that she wasn’t willing to sleep with people to get work in the industry.

He eventually stopped and asked her to go. Kritika ended her narration saying that people should stop protecting such people, that he did ‘something bad’ to her and that they should at least stop saying “he’s a nice guy because he’s not.”

Vicky Sidana is yet to respond to HT’s request for a comment.

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