Kangana Ranaut says she was ‘banned’ Bollywood after supporting victims in MeToo: ‘Sexual exploitation is common in film industry’

Kangana Ranaut said sexual exploitation of young people is not a rare thing in Bollywood and fashion industry. “No matter how much we defend the industry, it’s the truth. While it gives so many opportunities, it also shatters many dreams and leaves people permanently scarred. Yeh kaala sach hai (this is the dark truth).”
Kangana was speaking at a recent episode of reality show Lock Upp which she hosts. Kangana gave her views after contestant Saisha Shinde said she was exploted a leading fashion designer.

According to Kangana, it might be a case across industries, but people in the entertainment industry take it for granted for such things to happen, apart from gossiping about the victim. “Even when MeToo happened here, what happened to that? Nothing. Woh ladkiyan jo bahar aayi thi, gayab hain, sabki sab gayab hain from the face of this planet. Aur jinko maine support kiya tha, I was banned from the industry, and ladkiyan gayab hain (The women who came forward with accusations, have vanished from the face of the planet. I was banned from the industry, while the women I supported disappeared).”

Kangana was referring to victims like actor Payal Ghosh who levied sexual harassment charges against filmmaker Anurag Kashyap in 2020. The Dhaakad actor had publicly lend her support to Payal.
Saisha Shinde opened up about how a designer lured her with his sob story during her initial days in the industry. She said he later exploited her sexually. Saisha said that the particular designer told her how he was living out of a suitcase and misses having someone to care for him in life.
“After hearing this, I hugged him, and of course we had sex. I was in touch with him, we met often. Later I found out from my friends that they also were told the same story about the suitcase,” Saisha added.

Saisha further shared that the designer was notorious for having partners in every major city, and before she could reveal his true side to the world, he started spreading false stories about her that led to her getting banned from participating in fashion weeks.
Saisha Shinde is India’s first transgender fashion designer, who previously called herself Swapnil Shinde. Currently, she’s credited for designing clothes for Deepika Padukone, Anushka Sharma and Kareena Kapoor, among others.