Contrary to his TV persona of the ‘Sanskaari Babuji‘, veteran actor Alok Nath has turned out to be the exact opposite as two more women step forward with their stories of being sexually harassed by the actor.
A day after writer Vinta Nanda accused Nath of sexually harassing and raping her, an associate who worked on Sooraj Barjatya’s Hum Saath Saath Hain (1999) has now come forward with her own story.
Speaking to Mid-Day, the woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, recalled her ordeal during the last schedule of the film in Mumbai.
She stated, “We were shooting for a night scene and I had taken a change of costumes to him. Once I handed him the clothes, he started stripping in front of me. I was taken aback, and tried to make my way out of the room as soon as possible. When I tried to run out, he grabbed my hand and manhandled me. I remember yanking my hand out of his grip and rushing out of the room.”
Though the incident shocked and traumatised her, the survivor added that she did not report the incident because Nath was “was extremely close to the Barjatyas, and Sooraj Sir would have taken it badly.”
The survivor shared that the episode traumatised her for life and she changed the course of her career after this episode.
“I don’t actively do movies anymore. The course of my career changed [after this episode]. But Vinta’s post brought it all back.”
The survivor expressed deep admiration for Nanda, adding that she too is sending a showcause notice to Nath. However, she said that she does not share the same courage as Vinta and cannot put her family through the ordeal.
Moreover, actress Sandhya Mridul, best known for her role in films such as Page 3, Angry Indian Goddesses and Socha Na Tha, also shared her account of being sexually harassed by Alok Nath.
In a detailed account shared with HuffPost India, Mridul shared the ordeal she faced while in a telefilm with Nath, early in her career.
“I was shooting a telefilm in Kodaikanal. I was the lead. And very excited. Alok Nath was my on-screen father and Reema Lagoo my mother,” she wrote.
“Alok Nath was very impressed with me and called me “God’s own child” and openly praised me every day. I was over the moon. I was a huge fan of this wonderful Babuji.. I felt so fortunate happy and confident.”
“Till one night when the cast went out for dinner. At dinner he got progressively drunk and started insisting I sit with him and that I belonged to him and other stuff that I don’t clearly remember but it made me very nervous and uncomfortable. My co-star realised what was happening and got me out of there,” she continued.
Detailing the events of the night, Mridul shared that she headed back to the hotel without dinner and was about to settle for the night when a drunk Alok Nath showed up outside the room. She said that she tried to push him out but was unable and he made it into the “screaming I want you you’re mine.”
She continued that she managed to dodge him and made it to the lobby where she found the DoP, who took her back to the room.
“He came back to my room what ensued was traumatic because a belligerent Alok Nath refused to leave…kept screaming shouting threatening abusing trying to grab me…but at some point we managed to make him leave. The hairdresser was called and made to sleep in my room I was so shaken up,” she wrote.
However, her ordeal didn’t end there.
“It didn’t stop there…every evening he would drink and every night calls were made to my room. I dreaded the ring.. I had to keep it off the hook most of the times. But then he would come calling. It was a catch 22 situation. I had the hairdresser moved in to my room permanently. I was a nervous wreck,” Mridul further wrote.
She shared that after a few days of to and fro, Alok begged to let her apologise saying that he was an alcoholic and had “destroyed everything, his marriage” and that Mridul was like a daughter to him. She said that in response, she screamed and shouted at him and let out her emotions.
However, all that was in vain because “the damage was done. A very disillusioned, disgraced & unsure me returned home.” Furthermore, back in Mumbai, Nath told everyone that Mridul was “difficult and arrogrant.”
Mridul thanked her co-actors, DOP and especially the late Reema Lagoo for taking him on and protecting her like a mother.
Meanwhile, Nath refuted Nanda’s allegations, saying, “I didn’t expect such an allegation to come from her. In a way, it was me who made her what she is. It is absurd and a ploy to sabotage my image.”
However, he has not yet commented on the new allegations that have surfaced.
