‘I’VE WORN BACKLESS TOPS IN DTC BUSES’
However, Sayani Gupta, an LSR graduate, says it might not be possible to do that now safely
Actor Sayani Gupta’s power-packed appearances in films and web series have got her a strong following. Yet whenever this true-blue Bong visits the Capital, she prefers to stay alert and indoors. Blame the city’s notorious “aggressive” attitude.
A graduate of Delhi University’s Lady Shri Ram
College for Women (LSR), Sayani feels the city has changed a lot. “Now when I come back, I don’t like going out because it has become aggressive, and you have to be so careful about what you wear… it was so blissful [during my college days]. I’ve worn backless tops and travelled in DTC buses, and nothing happened! And I wasn’t even worried. This was during 2004-2007.”
Cut to the time when she visited the NCR to shoot for Second Marriage Dot Com (2012), and the unpleasant memory makes her shudder. “I reached the evening before we had to start shooting in Gurugram, and in broad daylight around 6pm, I got molested in public, and I was just so livid... Then for The Hungry (2017 web film), we came to Delhi to shoot... We had junior artists checking out both Tisca (Chopra) and me. That moment you feel violated on your own set. That’s what Delhi has become,” she shares.
All this including the time when she was “thrown out” by a cab driver who said “Nahi jayenge”, Sayani says she has seen the ugly side of the city. Yet, she keeps coming back because of her college days, and because of the food.
“Delhi will always be a very sweet part of my life. My formative years in college were sacrosanct because LSR is such a charismatic place. Even when I was working in Delhi, I used to go for these conferences, and I’ve even walked outside Pragati Maidan at like 9.30-10pm, alone. It’s unthinkable now. You’re gonna get picked up in like seconds. I keep telling my cousin and his family also to please leave Delhi, but he has a studio and lots of stuff here.”
I don’t like going out because it has become aggressive, and you have to be so careful about what you wear… it was so blissful [during my college days].
SAYANI GUPTA ACTOR