Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah star Jennifer Mistry Bansiwal quits show; accuses Asit Modi of sexual harassment

Jennifer Mistry Bansiwal, an actress well known for playing Mrs. Roshan Singh Sodhi on Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah for the past 15 years, has left the TV show. She said that the producer Asit Kumarr Modi had made approaches towards her. He, project director Sohail Ramani, and executive producer Jatin Bajaj are the targets of Jennifer's lawsuit. The actress finished filming for the TV show months ago, and March 6 marked her final day of work. 

Jennifer Mistry described what happened in detail to ETimes, claiming that the project head and the executive producer humiliated her on the set. She said, "I was asked to get off the sets four times by Sohail Ramani and Jatin Bajaj tried to stop my car by standing behind it and was not allowing to me to leave the sets. I told them that I worked on the show for 15 years, and they couldn't forcefully stop me, and while I was leaving Sohail threatened me. I have filed a case of sexual harassment against Asit Kumarr Modi, Sohail Ramani and Jatin Bajaj." 

Jennifer continued by saying that she required a half-day for Holi because her daughter eagerly anticipates the celebration. The actress asked for a two-hour break, thinking that would be appropriate for her, but was refused. The actress went on to say that the Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah set is a very male-chauvinistic environment because all the male actors' leaves were fixed except for her. 

"When I retaliated, Sohail spoke rudely to me and asked me to get out almost four times. Then the creative person, Jatin tried to stop my car. All this is recorded in the CCTV footage," exclaimed Jennifer. 

The next thing that happened was that Jennifer Mistry Bansiwal received a letter from Sohail explaining that she left the shoot early on the aforementioned day, which resulted in them suffering significant losses. 

She continued, "On April 4, I replied to them on WhatsApp that I was subjected to sexual harrasment, and they reverted to me saying that I was trying to extort money from them. I decided that day, I wanted a public apology. On March 8, I sent a notice to Asit Modi, Sohail Ramani and Jatin Bajaj, and also mailed and sent a registry to all the government authorities. I have not got any revert on the matter but I am sure they must be looking into it and investigating the matter. Every person in Taarak Mehta is a bonded labourer."

"Asit Modi has made sexual advances towards me many times in the past. Initially, I ignored all his statements because of fear of losing out on work. But it is enough now and I won't take it anymore. They tried to forcefully stop me on the sets and were shutting the gates and not allowing me to go out. I sent a complaint mail to authorities a month back but haven't got any revert. I am sure they must be looking into it and working towards the case. I am sure they must be investigating. I have hired a lawyer and I know I will get justice very soon," said the actress.

Jennifer also remembered being fired by the production team since she was pregnant when her co-star Gurucharan Singh Sodhi left the show. The actress claimed, "I didn't want to leave but they sacked me because he was leaving."