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Payal Rohatgi: These people are unstable, not me
Payal Rohatgi, it seems, doesn't mind showing skin on screen. But it's all a different story off screen.
The actress had recently alleged that director Dibakar Banerjee (Khosla Ka Ghola, Love Sex Aur Dhoka) took advantage of her on the pretext of casting her in his next film.
It led to a public war, involving other filmmakers like Anurag Kashyap and Sudhir Mishra.
Payal decided to clear the air by talking to the media. Click Next to read what she had to say.
'Dibakar told people that I was hallucinating'
How it all started:
I bumped into Dibakar Banerjee a few months ago in a hotel in Lower Parel (in south Mumbai), where I had gone to meet cricketer Herschelle Gibbs. We had coffee together and I told him that I wanted to work with him.
After that, we started meeting often, either at my house or Dibakar's office. I started considering him as a mentor, a friend whose advice I could rely on.
Then, I started shooting for the TV show Zor Ka Jhatka. After that ended, I connected with him again. He told me he was working on a film called Shangai and that he wanted me to audition for it.
During the audition, I had to act depressed and cry, as the character's husband had passed away. After my auditioning, I started feeling low.
When I reached home, Dibakar called up to ask me how my audition went. I told him I was feeling low. So he said he would come over. At first, I said no as it was between 9 and 10pm. But he insisted. Eventually, I agreed.
When he came home, he was a bit drunk. I was alone at home.
Dibakar said I had started looking plump, which was good for the role he had in mind.
Then all of sudden, he lifted my shirt to see my tummy. I hit his hand and asked him what he was doing. I told him to get out of the house.
Apparently, he went and told people that I was hallucinating and was depressed. To counter that, I want to tell everyone that he visits a psychiatrist called Dr Kersi Chavda because he cannot be monogamous to his wife. He has multiple affairs with his assistants and journalists. He told me this himself.
His casting director Atul Mongia told me that the audition was good but I lost the film. I came to know this three days after the incident. I tried to call Dibakar but he didn't take my calls or reply to my text messages for seven days.
I felt bad because he backstabbed me. His intentions were not good. I was scared to tell people as in this industry, they blame the girls for mistakes and it's always a publicity stunt.
Ten days after the incident, I spoke to Bombay Times and told them what happened. I took 10 days because I was scared for my career but once I spoke to my publicist about the incident, she convinced me to go to the media. I did not go to police because I just wanted people to see the real side of Dibakar Banerjee.
'Anurag Kashyap is the exact example of the casting couch'
How Anurag Kashyap came into picture
Anurag popped from somewhere and started saying that Payal is unstable and mentally disturbed. He calls me all sorts of names on Twitter.
Anurag doesn't even know me. Yet, he started bitching about me.
He himself is not a seedha (straight) person. He is having a scene with Kalki Koechlin and making a film for her. Now it has turned into love, engagement and marriage but he left his wife for her, he's the exact example of the casting couch. So who is he to give me gyaan about what happened?
'Nobody is blaming Sudhir Mishra'
How Sudhir Mishra came into the picture
When a channel asked Sudhir Mishra what happened between Dibakar and Payal, he said it was a publicity stunt and that the casting couch does not exist in the industry. He said that if someone sleeps with another person, it is out of choice.
That made me very angry. I messaged him and later spoke to him. I cried. He said he wanted to get out of this as he did not know what had happened. After that, he goes to the police station and files a complaint against me for threatening him! None of my SMSes say 'I am going to kill you'. So how is it a threat?
Besides, after his interview, I spoke to him and made peace with him. He went to the police 12 days later.
Nobody is asking him why he's doing this. Does he need publicity too, like me? If what I'm doing is a publicity stunt, then what he is doing is a publicity stunt too. Nobody is blaming Sudhir Mishra. Everyone is questioning me.
When I called him yesterday and asked him whether he had filed a complaint against me, he denied it. I told him I'd got a call from Mumbai Mirrror and the reporter confirmed about the complaint. He asked me to ignore the reporter.
These people are unstable, not me. I want to move on in life.
As far as my career is concerned, nobody can make me or break me. It's in God's hand.