It was an eye-opener: Pooja Pandey on meeting sexual assault survivors for Siya

Actress Pooja Pandey will be playing a titular character in her first film role for producer Manish Mundra’s directorial debut Siya (2022). The trailer of the film showed that the feature depicts the harrowing crime of sexual assault committed against a village girl named Siya and the aftermath of her ordeal.

In order to prepare for the role and give an authentic portrayal of the victim of such a crime, Pandey met with some rea-life sexual assault survivors. “To understand their agony, struggle and journey it was very important for me to meet them and build a close bond with them,” the actress said in a statement. “Getting to know them was an eye-opener for me and it was such a great learning experience for me. It has immensely helped me to shape my character and to play my part well on screen.” 

Speaking on how meeting the victims affected her, Pandey added, “These women are real brave hearts and their story is something the world should be aware of. Women are not weak. They are empowered and strong and to have such cases prevalent is heart wrenching. It was very difficult for me to keep a straight face while listening to these survivors’ stories and I had broken down during our meet with them.”

Produced by Mundra’s Drishyam Films and also starring Vineet Kumar Singh in a pivotal role, Siya is due to be released in theatres on 16 September.