Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah Actor Accuses Producer Of Sex Harassment

Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah Actor Accuses Producer Of Sex Harassment
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Modi denied Ms Bansiwal's allegations and said he will take legal action against her for trying to defame him and the show.

"Since we terminated her services, she is making these baseless allegations," the producer told PTI.

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He also claimed Ms Bansiwal was removed from the show on "account of misbehaviour".

"We were shooting on March 7 on Holi. Something happened and she misbehaved. We incurred a financial loss. The director and the production team said they will not work with her as she misbehaved and abused them.

"They decided to remove her from the show. I was in the US when this incident happened. Once we removed her from the show, she started levelling allegations against us. We are in talks with our lawyers. They will decide the future course of action," Modi said.

However, Ms Bansiwal alleged that both Ramani and Bajaj misbehaved with her on the show's sets on March 7.

In a media statement, Ramani and Bajaj denied the allegations, claiming Ms Bansiwal regularly misbehaved with the entire team of the show.

"We had to terminate her contract because of her bad behaviour and indiscipline during the shoot. During this incident, Asit ji was in the US. She is now trying to defame us and the show by making baseless allegations.

"We have already filed our complaint against these baseless allegations with the concerned authorities," Ramani and Bajaj said the joint statement.

Asked why she didn't come forward with her allegations earlier, Ms Bansiwal said she couldn't muster the courage to speak about it then.

"Being a woman, you think they are bigshots. How can you go up against them as your bread and butter comes from this (show)? I thought the easy way to deal with this was to quit the show, so that time, I was threatened that they would cut four months of payment. That time, I was not in a position to quit and not even now," she alleged.

The show's directors -- Harshad Joshi, Rushi Dave and Armaan Dhanesha -- also alleged Ms Bansiwal lacked discipline and was not focused on her work.

"We regularly had to complain to the production head about her behaviour. On her last day she was abusive in front of the whole unit and left the set without finishing her shoot," they said.

"Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah", which started airing in 2008, is one of the longest-running sitcoms in Indian television history. It also features popular actors Dilip Joshi, Munmun Dutta and Mandar Chandwadkar.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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