#MeToo: Nawazuddin grabbed me and wouldn't let go, says former Miss India Niharika Singh

After actress Tanushree Dutta showed the courage and shared her #MeToo story, where she accused veteran actor Nana Patekar of sexually harassing her 10 years ago, 
several women from the entertainmnet industry have come out and opened up about their ordeal. 

The latest celebrity to share her #MeToo story is former Miss India and actress Niharika Singh, who penned a detailed post about the movement which is gaining momentum in India and has also written her own experiences in the glamour industry.

The post has been shared by journalist and author Sandhya Menon on her Twitter handle.

In her post, Niharika has named her ex-boyfriend and actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui has also said that she has written the piece to “expand my own understanding of what constitutes abuse, who we choose to punish and whom we are willing to forgive”.

In her post, while talking about Nawaz, she wrote, "In 2009, I signed a small indie film titled Miss Lovely with an all new cast and crew. I was required on the set for not more than 15 days. An actor named Nawazuddin Siddiqui who liked to call himself `Nowaz' was signed for one of the lead roles. I'd never heard of him so I wasn't sure whether he could act at all."

"During one of my interactions on the sets with Nowaz, he gave me a CD that had a short film on it called ‘Bypass' which also starred actor Irrfan Khan, his senior from National School of Drama who was helping him get acting jobs. I was amazed by his performance and screen presence. The Nowaz on the set was nothing like the Nowaz on screen. Since I'd barely noticed him on the set before, I was intrigued. The next time I met him, he sensed my curiosity and invited me to his house for lunch. His frugal apartment and grandiose generosity warmed my heart. We talked about his life and I found him real, after all the superficial ‘filmy' interactions I'd had in the past years."

She further wrote, "One morning, when I was home and he had been shooting all night, Nowaz sent me a text saying he was near my building. I invited him over and asked him to come and have breakfast with me. When I opened the door, he grabbed me. I tried to push him away but he wouldn't let go." 

"After a little coercion, I finally gave in. I wasn't sure what to make of this relationship. He told me it was his dream to have a Miss India or an actress wife, just like Paresh Rawal and Manoj Bajpayee. I found his little confession funny but endearing," she added.

"I was drawn to the stories from his life. I introduced him to my sister and my friends but he was very insecure around them and preferred to spend time with me alone. He often complained about how he was judged on his looks, skin color and that he wasn't fluent in English. I tried to help him deal with his insecurities, but he was stuck in a state of victimization," she wrote.

"In the next couple of months, I began to discover one lie after another. Nowaz had engaged multiple women, giving each one a different story; one of them even called me from his phone and started yelling at me. I also found out about a woman he'd married in Haldwani, whose family had sued him for making dowry demands. I told him to clean up his mess, be honest with himself and everyone around him; also that I did not want to see him again," Niharika further said.

"Miss Lovely got into the Cannes Film Festival in 2012. I felt vindicated and enjoyed the attention of the international press. I posed, preened, finally saw myself on the big screen and returned a changed woman," she has written.

"Nawaz and I met at Cannes after three years. We hadn't spoken to each other since 2009. He was apologetic for his past behavior, told me he'd worked on his issues, dissolved his first marriage and married a second time. I started laughing. He started crying, confessing he and his second wife were living separately and it was even more complicated since he now had a daughter who he missed dearly. I looked at him with compassion and told him that he could call me if he needed to talk. There was one caveat though- He must never lie to me again. 2012 was the year he got his first brush with ‘fame'. He wasn't used to public life or much attention. He would call me everyday not knowing how to deal with it and I tried to guide him through the madness," the actress wrote in her long post. 

Niharika further wrote in her post, "I was living in Dehradun that time and had applied for a film appreciation course at FT1I in Pune. I didn't take up any film 
offers I was getting because I wanted to study post my Cannes experience and had no inclination to return to my previous 'filmy' life. I tried reconnecting with my 
family. My mother who had been living separately from my father for years was struggling with mental health and my father was about to retire from government service." 

"Nawaz had family in Dehradun who I had been introduced to. I was very fond of his brother Faizy and his wife. We all even celebrated Eid together once. In 2013, Nawaz was offered a film by Buddhadeb Dasgupta titled 'Anwar ka ajab kissa' and he called me to ask me if I would do a small role in that film. I would only be required to shoot for 3 days. I gladly agreed and went to Shimultata where the shoot was scheduled. He tried to re-engage me sexually, begging me to be with him but I refused, saying I was happy to be his friend and nothing else. After coming back from the shoot, I didn't take his calls and maintained my distance. I met Nawaz again in 2014 at the 'Miss Lovely' India release. This time he came in a SUV, with an entourage as the 'star' of the film. He was constantly throwing tantrums, upset with the way the promotions were being handled. He complained that the director should've just made a painting at home if he didn't care much about box-office," read the post. 

"He was very awkward around me so I tried to overcompensate by praising him in media interactions and indulged him to make him feel secure. One evening, after a promotional event in Ahmedabad, he tried to grab me again. I just walked away. 'Anwar ka ajab kissa' didn't get a theatrical release and I heard from various sources that Nawaz had started telling people that I was a terrible actress. I didn't get too many film offers after that," the post further read.

"In 2017, Nawazuddin Siddiqui wrote a memoir called 'An ordinary life', with writer Rituparna Chatterjee, which was published by Penguin Random House. Under the title 'Relationships', he wrote a completely fabricated account of our relationship without my knowledge or consent," she added.

Read the complete account here:

Niharika also named producer Bhushan Kumar in her post and wrote, "Bhushan Kumar called me to his office to sign 'A New Love Ishtory' where he gave me an envelope as a signing amount for the film. It contained two 500 Rupee notes (less than 14$). I got a text from him later that night- 'I would love to know you more. Let's get together sometime.' I wrote back saying- 'Absolutely! Lets go on a double date. You bring your wife. I'll bring my boyfriend.' He never wrote to me again."

Towards the end, Niharika also mentioned filmmaker Sajid Khan, who she met a couple of times while he was dating an actress she knew years ago.

"He (Sajid Khan) made a few predictions when a close friend of ours was opening her second restaurant- ‘This place will shut down within a year, mark my words.’ To his actress girlfriend he said, ‘She won’t survive a day without me in Bollywood’. ‘And, this one’, looking at me straight, ‘will soon commit suicide,’" she wrote.

"My restaurateur friend is opening her fourth restaurant. It is difficult to get a table at the other three. The actress’ career skyrocketed after she dumped the filmmaker and I, have managed to stay alive," she added.