Actress Himani Shivpuri condemned Alok Nath after writer-producer Vinta Nanda accused the senior actor of rape and told a news agency that the nature of his character is an “open secret in the industry”. In a telling post, Nanda, who wrote the 1990s’ television show Tara revealed in a telling post earlier this week that she was sexually violated by a ‘sanskaari’ actor almost two decades ago.
In her account, Nanda had not named Nath but it didn’t take a moment for the internet to identify her alleged perpetrator as the senior actor, best known for portraying virtuous roles in the films Hum Aapke Hai Koun!, Hum Saath Saath Hain and Pardes.
Himani, Nath’s co-star of the aforementioned films, paralleled his stature to that of fictional character Dr Henry Jekyll and his alternative evil personality Edward Hyde.
"If he has done it, then it is very bad. You cannot force any woman to do anything against her will, using your power. It is tough for women. Whenever we shot in daytime, he would be mild and normal but after having liquor he used to be this Jekyll and Hyde person. He used to change completely. I heard from actresses that they had a tough time working with him," Himani told the agency.
In fact, Himani also said that the press wasn’t aware of his image while she had previously witnessed Nath’s inappropriate behaviour on a flight.
"While we were in Dubai once for ITA awards, he had consumed liquor and his wife was worried and was disturbed with his behaviour as he was drunk. He was also once caught peeing in open and was deplaned from a flight as he had misbehaved on the flight. Media it seems was ill-informed about his image. Everybody knows what kind of a person he is. Some things are open secret in the industry," she added.
Apart from Vinta Nanda, Sandhya Mridul also shared her ordeal with Nath during the shoot of a telefilm in Kodaikanal.
