'Lost work for eight months': Aditi Rao Hydari shares her #MeToo story

Bollywood actor Aditi Rao Hydari has shared her #MeToo story and how she lost work for eight months as she turned down people’s advances.

Speaking at the India Today Conclave South 2018 in Visakhapatnam, Hyderi said, “I remember when I started, I was extra-naive because I came from a protected background. I didn’t know that the rumours were true, that things like this did happen. And honestly, I have not had such a bad time. I had one incident which actually didn’t harm me very much. But yes, I did lose work because I was given a choice - it’s either this or this. For me, it was a no-brainer. I had to walk away.”

The actor further said, “I think you should speak about something only when you are ready. And when you don’t talk about it, people are like, ‘Oh, they were paid off’ or ‘oh, they were silenced.”

Aditi said the incident made her hopeless about finding work again. However, with support from her team, she found work after eight months.

Earlier in July during an interview with Sunday Guardian, Aditi spoke about her experience with casting couch in the film industry and said, “I did lose work and I cried about it. I didn’t regret it but I cried about it because I felt so upset that this was true and this is how girls are treated. I was like, how dare someone speak to me like that! For about eight months [after the incident] I didn’t get work, but I feel that decision made me stronger in my intention about the kind of work I wanted to do."

“I think that everybody should do what they need to do, when they think it is right. That is what empowering a person is. This #MeToo movement is turning that on its head and taking that power away by putting these conditions and saying, ‘You must speak. If you don’t, that means you are giving in’,” the actor added.