Queen director Vikas Bahl was accused of sexual harassment by a former Phantom Films employee last year. Vikas allegedly insisted on dropping the female crew member back to her hotel room in the early hours of 5th May 2015. After which he pretended to pass out drunk on her bed. She said that he woke up soon after and masturbated on her.
The woman had confided in Anurag Kashyap, one of the co-founders of Phantom Films, about the incident and he had said, “I don’t want to know this right now.” Later, he promised that he would get Bahl to apologise but he never did. When the story was unearthed last year, Kashyap took to Twitter to announce that he had dissolved Phantom and the company no longer existed
On 1st June 2019, Vikas Bahl was given a clean chit by the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC). It is also being reported that the complainant failed to appear before the ICC despite repeated reminders.
Kangana Ranaut extended her support to the crew member of Phantom Films who accused Vikas. Kangana backed the allegations by saying that Vikas had behaved inappropriately with her too.
The Manikarnika actress said she was “shamed” by Bahl for not being cool enough. Even though he was scared of her every time they met socially and hugged each other he’d bury his face in her neck, hold her really tight and breathe in the smell of her hair. He would say, “I love how you smell, K.”
The allegations on Vikas led to his name being removed from the credits of Hrithik Roshan-starrer Super 30, a film that he had directed. Now that Vikas has got away scot-free, his directorial credit for Super 30 has been restored.
This news has received mixed reactions on Twitter. Here’s what the Twitterati wrote:
1. Singer Sona Mohapatra Is Enraged
2. Kangana’s Sister Rangoli Is Appauled
3. It’s About Time We Change…
4. The Mahabharat Reference?
5. We Wonder Why She Didn’t Show Up
6. So Much Hate
7. How Is He Innocent?
8. Fake Feminists, Really?
Tanushree Dutta also shared her disappointment regarding the decision. She said in a statement, “Very clever and ingenious idea to get yourself off the hook! I just want to say that nobody is foolish enough to believe these so-called clean chits given by internal committees and organisations we never heard of before. In fact, I would take a clean chit by law even with a pinch of salt as many times due to lack of evidence and sheer pressure the victims don’t press charges on the accused.”
Director Hansal Mehta, in an interview with a leading daily, said, “Vikas’ company had carried out an enquiry on the accusations levied against him and if they have cleared him of all the charges, we should not accuse him. This calls for stricter investigations. These internal committees might not be the right mode at times; although these committees are known to have external people and lots of rules.”
What do you feel about this? Let us know in the comments’ section.
Images source: Twitter and Instagram
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