In a rare moment of candour, the City of Dreams actress describes how an unnamed male co-star repeatedly crossed physical boundaries on a film set, went beyond agreed scenes, and bombarded her with unwanted advances — while she was too new to the industry to know how to push back.
There are stories that take years to tell — not because they are unclear in the teller's mind, but because the industry rarely makes it safe enough to tell them. Priya Bapat, one of Marathi cinema's most respected and award-winning actresses, broke that silence this week with a frank account of what happened to her on the set of one of her very first films. The details are uncomfortable but important: a co-star who repeatedly kissed her without consent, pursued her with unwanted messages, and created an environment so unnerving that her husband, actor Umesh Kamat, took a flight to the shoot location without being asked — just to make the situation stop.
What Priya Bapat Said: The Incident, in Her Own Words
Speaking in a recent interview, Priya described the experience as something that unsettled her from the very beginning — before the cameras even rolled. The film contained a kissing scene, which she questioned during script discussions, not because she objected to intimacy on screen in principle, but because she wanted to understand whether the scene was necessary to the story. Her concern was legitimate; her questions went largely unaddressed.
"There were moments where the actor kept improvising in the song. And he kept kissing me. And me being — I don't know why — I didn't take a stand for myself at that point of time. Because I didn't know how to deal with this."— Priya Bapat, in a recent interview
The incident did not remain confined to the set. The shoot was taking place in Bhopal, and both the actress and the co-star were staying in the same hotel — in separate rooms. What followed was a pattern of persistent, unwanted contact: messages asking her to join him for swimming lessons, invitations to dinner, requests to meet for breakfast. She declined every single one, clearly and consistently. The actor did not stop.
"We were staying in the same hotel. But of course, different rooms. But then he kept messaging me and asking me to come. 'Let me teach you how to swim.' 'Come, let's go out for dinner.' She refused all of it."— Priya Bapat, recounting the off-set advances
Umesh Kamat's Quiet Act of Solidarity
What makes this account particularly striking is not just what happened to Priya, but how it was resolved — and by whom. She did not escalate to producers. She did not issue a formal complaint. She endured. But at some point, her discomfort became visible enough that Umesh Kamat, without being called, without being asked, flew from Mumbai to Bhopal and arrived on set.
He stayed for three days. His presence, Priya has said, was enough. The co-star took note of the situation, understood the boundaries he had been violating, and backed off. There were no confrontations reported; no dramatic scenes. The quiet weight of a husband who showed up said what words hadn't managed to convey.
Key Details at a Glance
- Who: Priya Bapat, Marathi-Hindi actress; male co-star remains unnamed
- When: Early in Priya's career, pre-City of Dreams (before 2019)
- Where: Film shoot in Bhopal; both staying at the same hotel
- What happened: Co-star kissed her repeatedly during a song sequence without consent; sent persistent unwanted messages off-set
- How it ended: Umesh Kamat flew in unannounced; stayed three days; the behaviour stopped
- Named by Priya: She has not publicly named the co-star
A Timeline: From Script Room to On-Set Distress
- Script Reading Stage
Priya notices a kissing scene in the script and questions its narrative necessity. Her concern is not addressed satisfactorily.
- During the Song Shoot — Bhopal
The co-star begins improvising during the song sequence, kissing her repeatedly beyond what was agreed upon. Priya is too unsure to push back in the moment.
- Off-Set Harassment — Same Hotel
The co-star persistently messages Priya at the hotel, inviting her to swim, dine, and meet — despite continuous refusals.
- Umesh Kamat Arrives Unannounced
Without being asked, Umesh flies from Mumbai to Bhopal and appears on set. He stays for three days. The co-star backs off.
- Present Day — Public Disclosure
Priya shares the experience publicly for the first time (as of June 2026), calling it the only incident of this kind in her career, while preparing to return to the psychological genre in Dalimb: The Myth.
Priya Bapat Says Co-Star Kept Kissing Her During Shoot: ‘I Didn’t Know How To Deal With This’https://t.co/LmkB8ijxGF#Bollywood #PriyaBapat
— News18 (@CNNnews18) June 5, 2026
Why This Matters Beyond the Incident Itself
Priya Bapat is not the first actress to describe this kind of experience, and the structure of her account is painfully familiar to anyone who has followed reporting on workplace harassment in Indian entertainment: a new actor unsure of the rules, a more established co-star who interprets that uncertainty as permission, and an industry that offered no mechanism for the situation to be formally addressed.
What distinguishes her account is its specificity about self-doubt. She does not frame herself as a passive victim; she frames herself as someone who, at that stage, simply did not yet have the tools or the template to respond. "I didn't know how to deal with this," she said plainly. That admission is arguably more valuable than an angry denunciation — it reflects exactly how boundary violations work in practice, particularly when a power imbalance is involved.
Priya Bapat: Who She Is, and Why Her Voice Carries Weight
Born in Mumbai on September 18, 1986, Priya Bapat began her career as a child artist before building one of the most respected résumés in Marathi entertainment. She has won two Maharashtra State Film Awards and a Zee Chitra Gaurav Puraskar. Her defining role came with the political thriller web series City of Dreams (2019–2023), which established her as a leading voice in premium Indian streaming content. She has since appeared in Hindi films including Visfot (2024) and Costao (2025), and is married to fellow actor Umesh Kamat since 2011.
Her willingness to speak now — well after the incident, from a position of professional security — follows a pattern seen across the global post-MeToo era: it is often only once an actor has enough standing that she can afford to tell difficult truths about the time before she had any.
What Happens Next: The Larger Conversation
Priya has been clear that this is the only incident of this nature she has faced in her career — a clarification that matters both for accuracy and for context. She is not issuing a broader indictment of the industry. She is describing one specific, documented pattern of behaviour on one early project, and she is doing so with remarkable composure.
The co-star has not been named. There has been no formal complaint and no legal action reported. This is, by its nature, a personal account — and it should be treated as one. What it opens up, however, is a timely question: how many similar accounts remain untold simply because the industry still lacks the structural safety that would make telling them possible without professional cost?
Priya now moves forward with Dalimb: The Myth, a psychological project that marks her return to the genre she has excelled in. If past form is any guide, the work will be the clearest possible statement that she has never allowed any of this to define her trajectory.
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