Have faced harassment in Hindi and South film industries, reveals Amyra Dastur

Actress Amyra Dastur has now complained of facing harassment on the sets of a movie she worked in and even alleged that the directors on set ignored her complaints about her co-star's behaviour. However, Dastur refrained from naming anyone saying, 'they are powerful people — men and women who made sure I felt helpless.' 

The actress, last seen in Manasuku Nachindi (2018) and Kaalakaandi (2018), said in an interview with The Indian Express, "To be honest, I haven’t faced casting couch in the south or Bollywood. But yes, I have faced my share of harassment in both industries. I don’t have the guts to name them because they are powerful people — men and women who made sure I felt helpless." 

Speaking of a specific incident, the actress said, "I have had an actor squeeze himself up against me during a shot in a song and whisper in my ear that he was so glad that I was in the film with him. When I threw him off me and refused to speak to him again, he made my experience miserable." 

Dastur further stated that her complaints fell on deaf ears of the director on set. The actress was later called in early, and 'made to wait 4-5 hours on set' for having been 'difficult' 

"To top it all, I was made to apologise to the actor for my difficult behaviour (as I kept ignoring him) by the producer," Dastur added. 

The actress revealed another instance of harassment where a director would yell at her constantly on every single day of the shoot. 

Despite the growing number of women stepping out with names of their assailants, Dastur refused to name anyone. She said, "But until I don’t feel safe and secure, I won’t point fingers. They know exactly who they are and what they have done. What I will say for now is that they better stop their discriminating ways because there’s definitely a wave of change coming and their status won’t be enough to protect them from Karma." 

The actress has Leena Yadav's Rajma Chawal, Prassthanam, and the Rajkummar Rao-Kangana Ranaut-starrer Mental Hai Kya? up for release in 2019. The actress is currently part of the web-series, The Trip 2, with Mallika Dua and Shweta Tripathi.