Following Jennifer Mistry’s allegations against the makers of ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah’, actor Monika Bhadoriya who played the role of Bawri speaks out on the same lines. She says she was tortured so much th
Monika Bhadoriya speaks against TMKOC makers: Ever since actor Jennifer Mistry has spoken against the makers of ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah‘, a flood of other accusations and claims have risen along. Many other actors who quit the show in the past have now come ahead to tell their side of the story. In her latest interview, Monika Bhadoriya, who played the role of Bawri in the show, accused the makers of harassing and torturing her to the extent that she felt like dying by suicide.
While speaking to Pinkvilla, Monika made seven important statements and claimed that she had to choose between her self-respect and money, and she chose the former. Here are the statements that she made:
On being forced to not speak out:
Monika said the makers didn’t let her leave the show until she signed a bond promising that she would never talk to the media about everything that had happened to her on the show. She said when she refused to do so, she was threatened about not being given her payment.
Monika said, “When I left the show, nobody stood by me. Then I approached the media. And when the media wanted to talk to me, they made me sign a bond stating I would never talk to the media. They said ‘either sign the bond or forget about your money.’
On being harassed by one Sohail Ramani:
Monica named one Sohail Ramani, who was the production head of the show when she left. She said he called her for a meeting but started screaming at her and refused to release her dues.
The actor said, “He said ‘come, let’s sit and talk’ and then he started screaming at me. I talked back and sarcastically said, ‘you can abuse us, torture us, refuse to pay us, and also want us to not talk about it to anybody…’ Then Sohail asked me to not complain anywhere and released my payment.”
On having suicidal thoughts:
Monika said it was during her tenure with ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah’ that she lost her both parents. She revealed that she was struggling through a lot personally and that she would get tortured at work which made her think about quitting life altogether.
She said, “I was not able to deal with their loss and I thought my life was over. During this time, I was working for Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, which was also very torturous. So all this torture and thoughts made me feel that I should commit suicide.”
On being taunted on the sets:
Monika said she would get hurt after listening to what people had to say about her on the sets. She said the makers would talk about helping her in her time of need and how she should have been paying them back for the same. “They (TMKOC makers) said, ‘Her father died, and we gave the money. We gave the money to treat her ill mother.’ These words had hurt me deeply.” she said.
On not bringing her parents to the sets:
Monika said when her parents were alive, she always wanted to bring them on the sets but the workplace environment discouraged her.
“I had a dream to bring my parents on the sets of my show, but after seeing the atmosphere on the sets, I decided that I would never ask my parents to come on the sets,” she said.
On the ‘male-chauvinistic’ environment:
Monika said she would be ridiculed back by many on the show for saying it loud and clear but the environment on the sets is ‘male chauvinistic.’
“Yes, the environment on ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah’ sets has been male-chauvinistic. If I talk about it, a lot of people from ‘Taarak Mehta’ will call me and tell me why did I talk about it. But yes, it’s there, they support a male chauvinistic environment,” she said.
Monika left the show in the year 2019 and was replaced by actor Navina Wadekar. The actor is not the only one to have quit the show. Earlier, Shailesh Lodha, Disha Vakani, and Priya Ahuja among others have also left the show following a bad working experience.
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