Woman actor alleges harassment by director

Joining voices that call for gender justice in the entertainment industry, an actor in a popular Malayalam television series has raised allegations of sexual and mental harassment by the director of the show.

Nisha Sarang who plays the female lead in the sitcom Uppum Mulakum said in a television interview that she was being kept away from the show by the director, R Unnikrishnan.

She alleged that the director’s decision was an extension of harassment she had to suffer for about three years. While the director claimed that Nisha was taken off the show because she left to attend an award ceremony in the United States without informing him, the actor said she had received permission of the TV channel’s Managing Director, by mail, and the director himself had okayed her trip.

“I had resisted his moves earlier – he has tried to touch me, has used bad words and sent offensive texts. I expressed my displeasure but he kept coming back. I complained to the channel authorities and he was warned but there was no change in his attitude. I suffered a lot because I had to be in the show; I had to get my daughter married,” she said.

Nisha, a divorcee with two children, said the snubbed director had also turned vindictive and spread baseless rumours that she was in a live-in relationship. Nisha said some of her co-artistes on the show were aware of the harassment and had also questioned the director.

The Kerala Women’s Commission has backed Nisha and assured her assistance. The actor said she was coming out with the charges now because she was being wrongly projected as unprofessional.

Nisha has been kept away from the series’ shoot since she returned from the US. She alleged that in the series’ latest episodes, the director showed her character – Neelima – in a bad light.

“I’m not willing to go back to the set unless the director is moved out or the channel assures me in writing that such harassment won’t happen again,” she said.

Nisha has found support on social media from fans of the popular television series.

WCC steps in

The Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), the association which has mobilised dissent against anti-women practices in the Malayalam film industry, has extended support to Nisha.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the WCC said the police should suo motu register a case based on her statement.