Sanjjanaa Galrani recounts harassment on Ganda Hendathi set

The #MeToo campaign has taken over the country by storm and members of the Kannada film industry are speaking up, too. Taking to social media, actress Sanjjanaa Galrani posted a video narrating her experience of harassment in Sandalwood, 12 years ago, while working on her first Kannada film,Ganda Hendathi.
Speaking about the film, she says, “Before signing Ganda Hendathi 12 years ago, I was told that there would be only one kissing scene, which was the turning point in the movie.I was from a small family and had a lot of dreams; I wanted to be an actor and make money. The team said that they would take care of me like their mane hudgi. So, I signed the film.”
Sanjjanaa adds that by the fourth day of shoot, in Bangkok, the team’s attitude began to change. “They would drop me off a bit away from the location citing permission issues. They would scream at me during the shoot. My mother, who accompanied me, was sent away after a few days. They said that they were sending back some technicians as well. My mother asked me to stay safe, lock my room and not meet anyone after the shoot. The shoot went on. I listened, complied and agreed to what the team said. The first kiss got over. Then one more, and one more kiss, they said. When I questioned them, they said that they have given me a big break, did I want the film to be a flop? They threatened to tell the Nirdeshakar Sanga and Nirmapakar Sanga. They even said things like, ‘I’ll make sure you never act in another film’. Then the second kiss happened, the third one, the fourth, the 10th and so on. In all, it must have happened 30 or 40 times. I was scared. When I asked the producer, all he would say is that I had to do all this, for the sake of the movie. When I came back home, I told my mother that the shooting went on very well. What will a 16-year-old tell her mother? So many kissing scenes, so many angles. The censor board chopped much of it. I used to constantly think, ‘What have I done? Should I drink something? Should I die? What will people think of me?’ My mother held my hand and consoled me. She slept with me in my room for two months, fearing that I would cause harm to myself.”