MUMBAI: TV star Ridhima Pandit has publicly supported her colleague Krishna Mukherjee, who claimed that TV producer Kundan Singh had harassed her when she was filming her Dangal show, 'Shubh Shagun.' Ridhima expressed her admiration for Krishna's bravery in speaking up against the injustices she had been subjected to.
Krishna said in a lengthy Instagram post that when she refused to shoot, she was trapped in her makeup room. She further stated that the producer had not released her salary for the previous five months.
“What happened with her (Krishna Mukherjee) is horrific,” Ridhima told the popular news portal. “This should not happen to anyone. Kudos to her for talking about it because producers like those going to find gullible actors and ruin their lives, putting them in depression. We all stand by Krishna because it could have been any of us,” the actress said.
The former ‘Bahu Hamari Rajnikanth’ actress further lashed out at the producer and called his behaviour with Krishna “absolutely unacceptable”. “You do not own us. Yes, you own our time. If we misbehave during that time, you have the legal right to drag us to court. But you have no business trying to harm us physically or mentally. Absolutely not. We are the face of your show. We are also giving our blood and sweat for it,” she said.
Ridhima claimed that it is sad that nobody talks about the abuse on television sets. She did not name anyone but recalled an incident when an executive producer of her show did not let her visit her ailing mother in hospital.
“It is true that nobody talks about it. There is a certain form of abuse that does follow. In one of my shows, the producers were nice but the EP (Executive Producer) would mentally harass me. It was during that time I started to discover that my mother was unwell. She was admitted into the ICU. That was very heartbreaking for me to see my mother suffer so much. On the days she was admitted to ICU, the visiting hours were 7 am – 8 am and 4 pm – 5:50 pm,” she said.
“I told him to keep me in the 9 am shift so that I could visit my mother and then come for the shoot or if he wants me to shoot at 7 am, then he must allow me to leave at 4 pm. I told him I could give extra hours but I wasn’t allowed. That was absolutely cruel,” the actress added.
Ridhima added that lies were circulated about her, accusing her of having tantrums on set when she chose to confront the executive producer. She said that actors typically keep quiet because of a "fear of losing work."
(Also read: BIGG BOSS 15 OTT: SAD! Ridhima Pandit breaks down as she remembers her mother, has an argument with Muskaan Jattana)
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Credit- News 18
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