New Delhi, July 16: In an exclusive interview with Zee News, Sonu Nigam dramatically spilled the can of dirty worms of our entertainment fraternity that is well known for it’s homosexual connections.
Fed up with continuous lewd calls and mobile text messages, Nigam came in front of the television cameras and named a renowned senior entertainment journalist, Subhash K Jha, who is a well-known figure in the Bollywood circle.
Sonu Nigam said, “He used to harass me with his homosexual desires to an extent that my family was affected. We all know that the film industry consists of many gays and homosexuals. Even I have many gay friends but they have never tried to come close to me because they know that I am not interested in it. But in this case, he used to send me weird messages and talk nonsense on the phone.”
Elaborating about an incident that took place when Nigam was a part of the Indian Idol judge panel, he said, “He was calling Farah Khan and Anu Malik during an Indian Idol show. I was a little busy so I didn’t receive his call. Later, Jha called me up again and said that he loved me a lot, so I should pick up his call.”
Talking about the usual film industry struggle, Sonu accepted that many young actors and musicians are asked to go through different favours. He said, “During my struggle days, I used to meet many song composers but luckily nothing like this happened with me. Young actors and models do go through all these favours.”
Speaking about a particular incident when Jha proposed him, Nigam said, “In 2001, he proposed me and said that he loves me. He even misbehaved with me after getting drunk but later apologised in the morning. I even told him that you are Lataji’s friend and elder to me so please don’t talk such things with me as I’m not gay. But he still continued harassing me with his calls.”
Nigam blasted in front of the media today and said, “I’m not a fool that I don’t understand his intentions. I’m not a villager that I don’t know whatever is happening. I even told him about my girlfriends but slowly and slowly when he did not get any positive response from my end, he started criticising me in his articles and his feelings got bitter towards me.”
When asked about his last text message, Sonu said, “He messaged me 3 months back and stated that he missed me. He also wrote that he was impressed with my audacity on which I asked him to meet me if he wants to see my audacity. The way he wrote was sexual harassment. People in our country should know that such things also happen here. A man can also bother another man like this. I just want him to stop bothering me. He is gay, I have no problems, it’s his life but I’m not like him and he should stay away from me.”
Sonu’s anger was visible as he said, “I started avoiding his calls because I was troubled by him. On top of that he wrote an article against me that was titled, ‘The King of Ego’. I have many journalist friends and they have all have been nice people. On the one hand today’s journalists are slogging hard and doing an amazing job for the country and on the other hand, people like Jha are tarnishing journalism. Jha is the same person who praised me after the release of my film “Love in Nepal” but after getting no response from me, he started criticising me. He always gets drunk with everyone and misbehaves in the night and then calls up in the morning to apologise.”
Sonu Nigam’s allegations against a senior entertainment journalist are one of the few man-to-man celebrity sexual harassment cases that have hit the limelight in India. Homosexuality is prevalent in the glamour world but such a serious allegation against a known figure speaks volumes about ‘favours’ in the glamour world. The Casting Couch Syndrome can also victimise men and not women alone.
Bureau Report
First Published: Monday, July 16, 2007, 00:00