Aishwarya Rai was the only support Flora Saini received when she was assaulted at the hands of her then boyfriend, back in the year 2007.
Flora is one of the many people who have spoken out with their stories and tormented experiences from the past, as the #MeToo movement continues to catch fire in the country.
Saini – who was recently seen in Rajkumar Rao’s latest box-office success, ‘Stree’ had recently opened up about her abusive relationship with producer Gaurang Doshi and how she finally managed to come out of it with a “fractured jaw n a scarred soul for life.”
Sharing her story, along with pictorial proofs, in a Facebook post, Flora alleged Gaurang – who’s known for producing movies like ‘Bawandar’ and ‘Aankhein’, of physically assaulting her more than 10 years ago.
While raising voice at that point costed her her career, she did not quite receive any form of support from her industry colleagues when she needed it. The only person who seemed to take a stand was, Aishwarya Rai.
Flora was quoted remembering, how the ‘Devdas’ actress lent her support in her own way:
“That time when I spoke, I felt I made a huge mistake. Nobody was giving me work. I’m the only breadwinner of my family and it became very difficult. No support! The only person to support me (then) was Aishwarya Rai and I thank her from the bottom of my heart. She had signed a film with Gaurang and she walked out of it. In an interview, she said, ‘I refuse to work with a woman beater.’ When the world was against me, there was one woman, who supported me. Who leaves work? When she did that for me, there was some hope restored in me. It’s too little a thing for her probably, she won’t even remember. I love her so much for that.”
In a recent interaction with the media, Aishwarya also lent her support to the #MeToo movement, as she encouraged providing a platform to the several silenced voices of former sexual assault victims.
“What is nice to see in present time is that the members of the media are becoming allied and propelling voices that needs to be heard and giving them the platform. The law of the land will take over for justice to be served.” – she said.