Swara Bhasker has opened up about an uncomfortable experience she allegedly faced with a film director at the beginning of her career. During her stint on ‘Rise and Fall Season 2’, the actress recalled working on a film shortly after ‘Tanu Weds Manu’, in which she played the female lead. She claimed that the director initially sent her messages and poetry before asking her to rehearse a romantic scene with him privately.Speaking to actor Priyanka Chahar Chaudhary and politician Tej Pratap Yadav on ‘Rise and Fall 2’, Swara recalled the circumstances surrounding the film. “This was just after Tanu Weds Manu. It was my big lead film. It was a 56-day shoot. I was the heroine in his film. First, he started explaining to me that, you know, a director should love his actor, this is how it should be. Then he started messaging me. He was sending me poetry,” recalled Swara.She said the director later suggested that they rehearse a romantic sequence together. Swara questioned why the rehearsal would involve only the two of them. “Then there was a love scene in a film, like a romantic song. He said we would rehearse this scene. I asked him, ‘Who all are there in this rehearsal?’ He said, ‘You and me, we’ll discuss’,” said Swara.The actress said she immediately made it clear that she was not comfortable with the arrangement. “I said, ‘No. You call the actor, you call the camera person. If it is a rehearsal, everyone should do it. Why should we do it alone?’”, asked Swara.Swara also recalled the environment at the guest house where the cast and crew were staying. She said she was the only woman there and alleged that the director and cinematographer had already been drinking when she returned to her room.“Where we were staying in the guest house, I was the only woman. I went inside and the director and cinematographer had already finished half a bottle and both were sitting and drinking,” she said.According to Swara, the director later came to her room that night and knocked on the door. She said she realised he was drunk when she opened it and that he then asked her for a hug.“Can I get a hug?” he allegedly asked.Recalling her reaction, Swara said, “I was like, ‘No. You cannot get a hug. Please, hug me? What happened? You just want to hug me? I said, ‘No, no, I can’t do it. Sir, please go. I am scared,’” she recalled.Swara suggested that the situation was particularly difficult because she was still a young actor trying to establish herself in the industry. She said the experience left her uncomfortable while navigating the dynamics of working with senior members of a film’s team.
