Exclusive: “Had I known The Truth About Zain Durrani, I Would Have Never Worked With Him” – Onir On Saloni’s Physical Assault

    Exclusive: “Had I known The Truth About Zain Durrani, I Would Have Never Worked With Him” – Onir On Saloni’s Physical Assault

     A few days ago, Desimartini broke the news about the physical assault meted out to actress-model Saloni Chopra by Kuch Bheege Alfaaz actor Zain Khan Durrani.

    Of late, there has been a lot of discourse on the women empowerment issue and people have come out and have spoken about their own unfortunate episodes - thanks to the viral #metoo campaign. But no matter what we say, what we discuss and argue about, circumstances that are there are hard to change!

    Almost in the same light, Desimartini.com got to know about the horrendous physical abuse episode of not just one but two women by the same man! Unfortunately no one spoke out!

    Well, eventually one did but after a span of four years! You may ask – why?

    Well, she was led to believe that she was the reason behind her man’s behavior anomaly! And who led her to believe that? Well, her man himself!

    “Had I known The Truth About Zain Durrani, I Would Have Never Worked With Him” – Onir On Saloni’s Sexual Assault

    You see, there are numerous layers in a relationship. Humans just tend to get wrapped - and sometimes they don’t even want to come out of it! They are ready to bear all the atrocities and yet make things work! It is almost like an addiction for that matter!

    For the uninitiated, Zain Khan Durrani is an actor who was nurtured, trained and launched by critically acclaimed director Onir in his very own directorial Kuch Bheege Alfaaz! Onir took immense pride in the fact that he not just launched another artist, he provided a launchpad to another deserving and good human being. Regrettably, little did he know, his protégé was far from being good; let alone being deserving!

    We got in touch with Onir himself to find out what he felt like when he came to know about the whole rigmarole that had taken place on the social media courtesy Saloni Chopra’s official Instagram handle!

    Busy with his tedious shoot schedule, nothing could traumatise Onir more, quipped he, “I accidently read her blog, she didn’t name Zain but I knew pretty well they were seeing each other, I was shooting in Vrindawan and I was really shocked! I knew Zain for more than four years and not in my wildest nightmares could I have imagined that he was in fact what came out to be!

    He further said that he had spoken to Zain’s best friend who happened to be a common friend of Saloni’s as well in order to confirm whether what is being said is true or not and that he affirmed, it was absolutely true!

    A distraught Onir then went to meet Saloni, a meeting that unfortunately for him turned out to be utterly disheartening – “Then I met her. It was so disheartening to know that the person whom I had literally given a chance was in fact a liar. You can do anything but physically assaulting is something that I would never support. As a matter of fact, he (Zain) always used to acknowledge, after his parents it was I who he used to look up to! I didn’t even know he lived forever in denial of his actions and he was just not what he portrayed himself to be.”

    Onir strongly feels Zain needs medical help and counseling because he was surely living in denial, “The violent streak in him is a problem he has! He should tell his family, what he is in Bombay and what he is back at home are two different personalities. After all these years, I feel really bad because, I didn’t know the real Zain at all”, he declared!

    He further attested, “Only if I had known him, I would never had worked with him!”  

    Onir was absolutely oblivious to the fact that there were three girls in Zain’s life and that the latter didn’t even care to inform the former about it! In fact, he chose to hide the fact. “I didn’t have a clue of a second girl even existed. She used to abuse her to such an extent that she was left broken. She came down to Mumbai because of him and now she is going back. She comes from a very conservative family which is why she doesn’t want anyone to know about it.”

    The I am director also stressed on the fact that if in a relationship anything is hidden, it is always better to bring it out in the open so that no one is in the dark. Quipped he, “The third girl who he (Zain) is to get married to, should be told upfront of the kind of person he really is. Nothing should be hidden from her. When she accepts him knowing about him completely, it is fine. It is very important for people to know the truth and not discover. People just build up such a lot of deception. It is very easy for a man to talk about equality but it is very difficult for a woman! You cannot and should not get into a relationship without knowing what the other person is!

    Acknowledging the fact that it is very easy for men to speak about gender equality and women empowerment, but difficult for the women to do just that the sensitive filmmaker stated that he is proud of Saloni for being so courageous and upfront, “it is very easy to tell the lady to speak up against injustices meted out to her but it is very difficult for her to do just that. That is why; I respect Saloni for speaking up because she wanted it to stop instead of it becoming a recurrent feature. The truth needed to be out,” he concluded!

    Well, now that the truth is out, we want the perpetrator to receive the lashing he deserves! And all we can do is just hope that something of this sort does not happen with anyone again!

    For more such news and updates from the B’town stay tuned to Desimartini.com