Vipul Shah tried to kiss me, wanted sexual favours, alleges Netflix' Sacred Games actress Elnaaz Norouzi

Iranian actor Elnaaz Norouzi, who was seen in Netflix' Sacred Games has accused 'Namaste England' director Vipul Shah of sexual harassment.

Photo courtesy: Instagram

New Delhi: Iranian actress Elnaaz Norouzi, who played a pivotal part in the Netflix series 'Sacred Games' has accused director Vipul Shah of sexual harassment. Narrating her ordeal to Mid-Day, Norouzi alleged that the director made sexual advances towards her while auditioning her for a role in his recent released 'Namaste England'.

In a long account in published in Mid-Day, Elnaaz mentioned how Vipul kept her in running for a small role in the film for months without even actually casting her. She says he took several auditions of her but kept postponing signing her up for the film. 

She told Mid-Day that she met Vipul when the film was still in its pre-production phase. The manager of the director told her she was being cast as the second lead in the film. Then she met Vipul Shah who made it look like he will sign her soon but which actually never happened. When she went to meet him in his office, the director allegedly came really close to her and gave her a peck.

"He took several auditions of her but kept postponing signing her up for the film. I met him again in his office, and again he mentioned, 'We will sign the papers over the next couple of days.' This time, when we were saying bye, he came on to me and it was too close for comfort. I didn't get the right vibe. He gave a peck on my face which I was expecting at all," she said.

She says he would try to kiss her every time she met him in his office and also touched her inappropriately in a hotel. "The next time we met at his office, he tried to kiss me. I backed off, said, 'What are you doing? We are in your office!' I pushed him away, being affirmative,  but careful enough not to come across as rude, because I really wanted the film," she said.

She added further saying that Vipul got her to come to the shoot location for Namaste England in Patiala without ever signing her up for the film. 

"He took another audition of her there but still did not tell her the story of the film. He said, 'Come to my room. I will make you hear the script." When I went there, he touched my butt, and dragged me towards himself. I dodged him, went back to my room, and sat there wondering if I should just give in," she said. 

She said that it was then when she got signed for Netflix's 'Sacred Games' and claimed that Vipul tried his best to make her quit the project. "He said that he would launch me in a big way. It was a girl-next-door part in 'Namaste England', and that he was clear he would not be able to cast me, as a result of 'Sacred Games', and that I should skip the offer, since they would make me do nude scenes," she said. 

Elnaaz said that by that time she had got the clue that Vipul wanted sexual favours from her in exchange for a role in his film. "I was mentally tortured for three months. It was evident that if I slept with Vipul, I would get the part. Every time I went to his office, he tried on me. He would inappropriately touch me, and try to kiss me," she said.

She added that she didn't take the matter to police as she is not an Indian national and feared that the complaint against the director would create work visa issues for her.