Daisy Irani has gone public sixty years after the trauma | Photo Credit: Instagram

Daisy Irani, India’s best-known child star of the 1950s, has revealed that she was raped and abused by her guardian when she was just six years old. According to a report in Mumbai Mirror, the actress, who is better known as the maternal aunt of Farhan Akhtar and Farah Khan, decided to speak publicly after over 60 years since she faced this trauma.

The report also states that more than the campaign #MeToo, what has prompted her to break her silence is the very large number of children working in films, TV and talent shows. She wants to caution parents, guardians and mentors so that they can keep a protective eye.

“The man who did this was supposed to be my guardian. He accompanied me to a film shoot (Hum Panchhi Ek Dal Ke) in Madras. One night in the hotel room he violated me, hit me with a belt and warned me that he would kill me if I ever told anyone about what had happened,” Daisy told Mirror. READ: Casting couch is discussed because it has more masala, says Aiyaary star Rakul Preet Singh

She was urged by her mother to do films from the young age of four. Irani worked in over 50 films including Naya Daur, Jagte Raho, Boot Polish and Dhool Ka Phool, essaying roles of boys mostly. She shared the screen with the top stars of that time including Ashok Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Vyjayanthimala and Meena Kumari.

“That man is dead and gone. His name was Nazar, he was related to the famous singer Zohrabai Ambalewaali. Obviously, he had contacts in the film industry. My mother was hell-bent on making me a star. I made my debut in the Marathi movie, Baby. So Uncle Nazar (she rolls her eyes here) had accompanied me to the shoot of Hum Panchhi Ek Dal Ke in Madras. I can recall the incident only in flashes, but I do remember the killing pain, and the visual of him belting me. The next morning, I was back at the studio as if nothing had happened. For years, I couldn’t dare to tell my mother about what he had done,” she revealed to Mirror.

She also said, “All I can say is as I grew up, I started flirting outrageously, I would tease and taunt men. I did not even understand what I was doing. I became badtameez (without manners). With time, my mother did get to know about the Madras incident but what could be done really?”



She also recalled to Mirror how that was not the only time she was assaulted, she continued, “When I was 15 or so”, she recalls,“mother made me wear a sari, padded me up with a new-fangled sponge, and left me alone with producer Mallikchand Kochar, who was planning a film called Mere Huzoor then, at his office located somewhere between Maratha Mandir cinema and the Tardeo circle. It was all quite hilarious… He joined me on the sofa, and started touching me… I knew what was on his mind. I took out the sponge things and handed them to him. He was furious. Now, why did I do that? Because I’ve always seen the funnier side of things.”

Her two sisters, Honey (Farhan and Zoya Akhtar’s mother) and Meneka (Farah and Sajid Khan’s mother), too, stepped into the movies and this time Daisy was extra protective about them. She said, “Thanks to our mother, Perin, our lives, when we were kids, resembled a never-ending black comedy.”

While Honey Irani married scriptwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar when she was 18, the other sister married filmmaker Kamran Khan when she was 19. Daisy herself married scriptwriter and director KK Shukla when she was 21. ALSO READ: Amala Paul reveals shocking details about the man who harassed her

Daisy who continued to act in supporting roles, her last being in the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Happy New Year said, "Child actors have it tough. In a majority of cases, they have been taken advantage of. Maybe a few have had it easy, but most don’t, really,” she told the daily.

She also mentioned that she does not mind coming out in public and telling her story because her children and her sisters know what happened to her. It's just the phone calls that she isn't ready to answer!