Iranian actor Mandana Karimi, who gained recognition with her stint in the reality show ‘Bigg Boss 9’, has revealed that she quit Bollywood after the ‘disrespect and harassment’ she faced in her decade-long career in the industry. She added it was getting ‘unhealthy’ for her mental health.
‘I don’t care about the fame, I don’t care about the money I used to earn. I used to, when I was younger, but not anymore,’ she said in an interview with Shivani Pau.
Mandana said a few years ago, when she accused a director of sexual harassment, it created a lot of damage for her than doing her good. She said unlike Western countries, where the #MeToo movement has resulted in change, it has been very different in India
She said, ‘It’s an industry that, if I had a child right now, I would be worried if my daughter wants to be a part of Bollywood. The industry in India is very different. It runs on who you know, who your father is, who your family is. Yes, later on, it depends on how good you are and how talented you are, but it’s very competitive.’
Mandana said certain situations can be ‘unhealthy’.
‘For me, Bollywood was like that. I tried to find good people to work with… I’m not saying that everyone is the same, there are some amazing people that I worked with… Unfortunately, in my career, I didn’t have that many of those people. I had people who were very disrespectful, they treat you like, ‘Oh, she’s a pretty girl, she doesn’t have support, we can do whatever we want’, she said.
Mandana has appeared in films like ‘Roy’, ‘Kya Kool Hain Hum 3’, and ‘Thar’. She last participated in the reality show ‘Lock Upp’, hosted by Kangana Ranaut.