Tara writer-producer accuses Bollywood’s ‘most sanskaari person’ Alok Nath of rape

Vinta Nanda also alleged that the TV actor had all her shows at the channel shut down, leading to the closure of her production company. Nanda then wrote a harrowing account of her personal trauma -- how the actor raped and brutalised her in her own home.

Filmmaker Vinta Nanda Monday alleged that leading TV actor Alok Nath had raped her in her home, sexually harassed lead actress of her 1990s TV show Tara and got her sacked when she complained.

Alok Nath is a popular character actor, well known for his work in TV series Buniyaad and Hum Aapke Hain Koun!(HT Photo)

Nanda also alleged that he had all her shows at the channel shut down, leading to the closure of her production company. Nanda then wrote a harrowing account of her personal trauma -- how the actor raped and brutalised her in her own home.

In a long Facebook post, Nanda , who did not name the actor but virtually identified him as being “known as the most #Sanskaari (Cultured) person in the film and television industry”, said that his wife was her best friend and they had been part of the same circle over the years.

After holding back the actor’s name initially, Vinta confirmed that it was Alok Nath to IANS via SMS and said: “It is Alok Nath. I thought saying ‘sanskaari’ would do the needful.”

Twitter, where several users have shared Nanda’s post including comedian Mallika Dua, has identified the actor as Alok Nath who is known for playing the family patriarch in many Bollywood family dramas.

In her Facebook post, filmmaker Vinta Nanda did not name the actor but virtually identified him as being “known as the most #Sanskaari (Cultured) person in the film and television industry”. (Photo Courtesy: Vinta Nanda’s Facebook Page)

Nanda writes in her post that when she was producing and directing Tara, he was after the show’s main actress and persisted even after she declined his advances, taking the opportunity to molest her in a scene. When they had him removed from the show, he first had the actress changed, the show’s storyline changed and came back into it before having it axed.

 

“We were called by the newly appointed CEO of the channel on the Monday of the following week and told to shut down the show, along with all our other shows. I was insulted and humiliated by the CEO, asked to get out of his office and told that women like me should be thrown out of the country,” Nanda wrote in her post.

 

She alleged that he had her drink spiked at a party at his house, then offered to drop her home. “I can remember more liquor being poured into my mouth and I remember being violated endlessly. When I woke up the next afternoon, I was in pain. I hadn’t just been raped, I was taken to my own house and had been brutalised,” she alleged.

Nanda also mentioned other ways he harassed and humiliated her subsequently.

On why she had remained silent for so many years, she said: “The only reason I’m telling this story now is because I don’t want that any girl should ever fear holding the truth back.”

“What followed because of my silence was even worse. I became easy prey because the message had been put out that I was afraid and so I would not open my mouth. The couple of times that I wrote about what I had gone through created more complications because I stopped getting work. To deal with all the fear and shame I drank myself silly almost every evening and even flirted with drugs,” she added.

Praising her friends for standing by her and restoring her to health, she said: “I have waited for this moment to come for 19 years. I shout out to each one of you who have suffered at the hands of predators to come out and say it aloud. Don’t hold yourselves back.”

(With IANS inputs)