Filmmaker Luv Ranjan accused by an actress of sexual misconduct; says ‘He asked me to strip’

Tanushree Dutta has created a huge uproar with her accusations against Nana Patekar, choreographer Ganesh Acharya and director Vivek Agnihotri. She has given the courage to other actresses to come up with their Me Too stories. Big names from the industry like Alok Nath, Vikas Bahl, Rajat Kapoor, Sajid Khan among others have come out. The latest name to be included in the list of the accused is ‘Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety’ director Luv Ranjan who has been alleged of sexual misconduct.

An actress keeping her identity confidential spoke to Mid-Day, revealing about the ordeal with Ranjan while auditioning for ‘Pyaar Ka Punchnaama’. She said, “It was 2010. I was 24, and had done two small roles in big movies opposite well-known actors, and was in the auditioning phase. I was called by Vicky Sidana, a casting director, who said that the auditions for ‘Pyaar Ka Punchnama’ were on, and a very short list of girls had been called for them. I trusted him and hence, went for it. The dress code was a short skirt and a tight top, which was fairly common, and wasn’t a problem with me. There were seven to eight girls there, and the strange part was that they didn’t give us dialogues as they would usually ask you to enact the scene. This was supposedly only a look test.”

“I was at Kumar Mangat’s office and Abhishek Pathak, his son, was the producer. I’m not sure whether or not he was present that day because I didn’t see him or interact with him. The director, Luv Ranjan, and the cinematographer were sitting in a room and calling the girls in one by one. The girl who went in before me came out with an ashen look and seemed uncomfortable. She hurriedly left. Then I went in. The room was properly lit for an audition and there was a proper camera set up, etc. They asked me to give an introduction, which was totally normal, totally legitimate.” added the actress.

Then opening about her experience with Luv Ranjan, she said, “Luv Ranjan said there was a kissing scene and bikini scene in the movie and asked if I was fine with that, to which I said yes. He said he wanted to see what I’d look like in a bikini. Later in life, when I gave another audition for a movie, there was a female stylist who gave me a bikini to do a look test in the presence of lots of people. Luv asked me to strip down to my bra and panties. He said he wanted to see my body so he could check if I needed to lose weight. He said they were not recording anything and the cinematographer would also leave the room, so I needn’t worry. After that, it all gets blurry. My heart was pounding and I rushed out saying I had to leave and wasn’t comfortable with it. I went home and tried to forget about it.”

Image Source - Hindustan Times

This doesn’t stop here. He went on asking her whether she was a virgin, masturbates and uses condoms or not. “By then, I was scared and asked if I could leave. He said I shouldn’t misunderstand him, and called the three guys into the room and asked them, “Do you trust me enough as a director, that if I were to ask you to drop your pants, you would?” she added.

When Luv was asked about this he denied all the allegations and was quoted saying in the daily as, “It’s so absurd that I don’t know what to say except that I deny it. I don’t know how to react to an anonymous allegation beyond this and am willing to face any legitimate enquiry.”

Also Read: #MeToo: Filmmaker Subhash Ghai and Sajid Khan accused of sexual misconduct