Alok Nath, popular for his many roles as the large-hearted family patriarch, allegedly raped Vinta Nanda in the 1990s.
New Delhi: Alok Nath, a titan of the television world and filmdom’s favourite father figure, is the latest to be outed as an alleged rapist in the #MeToo firestorm victims have triggered on social media.
In a post, writer-producer Vinta Nanda, a veteran of the television world herself, has recounted a gut-wrenching tale of allegedly being raped by Nath, whom she has also accused of forcibly pouring alcohol into her mouth, 20 years ago.
While Nath is yet to address the allegations, the Cine And TV Artistes’ Association will issue a showcause notice to the actor to explain why he “should not be expelled”, member and actor Sushant Singh tweeted.
After her successful TV show, Tara, was shut down, Nanda said, Nath invited her to a party.
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“It was usual for our group of friends from theatre to meet regularly so there was nothing unusual about my going to the party,” Nanda’s 9 October Facebook post reads. “As the evening flowed, my drinks were mixed and I began to feel strange. Then at around 2am I left his (Alok Nath’s) house,” she added.
According to Nanda, Nath followed her in his car and offered to drop her home.
“I trusted him and sat in his car. I have faint memory after that. I can remember more liquor being poured into my mouth and I remember being violated endlessly,” she wrote.
“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 said, “I couldn’t get up for (sic) my bed. I told some of my friends but everybody advised me to forget about it and move on.”
‘Not the only time’
This, Nanda wrote, wasn’t the only time.
Not too long afterwards, she said, she found herself on the same set as Nath again when he joined a TV show Nanda was directing.
“While I was working on this new series, he asked me to come to his house again and I went to allow him to violate me,” she said, “I needed the job and didn’t want to leave it since I needed the money. It was after this that I quit.”
What followed was a 10-year hiatus from the industry.
“I was completely shattered by then. It was a nervous breakdown I was going through, but I was trying to be brave,” she wrote, “I tried to pick up the threads of my life but channels and networks and sets and rehearsals started to freak me out.”
Nanda said she “drank herself silly” and even “flirted with drugs” to deal with all the “fear and shame”.
What happened with Tara
She also detailed Nath’s alleged misbehavior on the sets of Tara, which was launched in 1993 as one of the first Indian TV shows that focused on the journey of a modern city woman. Nath was the lead actor on the show alongside Navneet Nishan, who played the eponymous protagonist.
According to Nanda, Nath harassed the female lead actor. The situation got so dire, she added, that the female actor even slapped him.
“He was an alcoholic, shameless and obnoxious but he was also the television star of that decade, so not only was he forgiven for all his bad behaviour but many of the guys would egg him on to be his worst,” Nanda said.
She alleged that after he found out that the team was thinking of dropping him for his obnoxious behaviour, Nath came to the sets drunk.
“We needed one last shot between them and soon after it had been taken we had planned to let him know that we didn’t want to work with him any longer,” Nanda wrote.
“He continued to drink till the time he was called for the shot,” she added, “When the moment came and the camera rolled, he felt up our female lead and very viciously. My lead actress slapped him.”
Consequently, Nath was dropped from the show. However, that soon followed producers asking Nanda to change the female lead as well. Soon after, the show was shut down completely.
Why now
Nanda said she came out with her story with the hope that other survivors would choose to speak out.
“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,” she said.
“I had friends who rallied around me and helped me clean up and restart my life in 2009, which meant that I had lived my trauma for 10 long years. Social media also saved me,” she added.
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“I shout out to each one of you who have suffered at the hands of predators to come out and say it aloud,” Nanda said, “Don’t hold yourselves back. This is a moment for change so your silence will only hold barriers to its evolution.”