bollywood

Updated: Oct 07, 2018 12:16 IST

Actor Kangana Ranaut has extended support to a former employee of Phantom Films who has accused Super 30 director Vikas Bahl of molestation, saying the director had harassed her on the sets of Queen as well. In an interview to India Today, the actor who won a National Award for her performance in Queen, said, “Every time we met, socially greeted and hugged each other, he (Bahl) would bury his face in my neck, hold me really tight and breathe in the smell of my hair. It took me great amount of strength and effort to pull myself out of his embrace. He’d say ‘I love how you smell K’.”

The 31-year-old actor said she could tell on the sets of the 2014 film that “something is wrong with him.” Kangana added in the interview, “Even though Vikas was married back in 2014 when we were filming Queen, he bragged about having casual sex with a new partner every other day. I don’t judge people and their marriages but you can tell when addiction becomes sickness. He partied every night and shamed me for sleeping early and not being cool enough.”

A Huffington Post report detailed the abuse of a former employee of the company founded by Anurag Kashyap, Madhu Mantena and Vikramaditya Motwane at the hands of Vikas, who is also a co-founder, in 2015. The report claims that while many people, including Anurag, were aware of the incident for a long time, they did not do enough. Anurag accepted in an interview to the website that “we didn’t handle it well”. Bahl is yet to respond to the report.

The report also suggests that the dissolution of Phantom Fims could be attributed to the allegations. “Phantom was a dream, a glorious one and all dreams come to an end . We did our best and we succeeded and we failed. But i know for sure we will come out of this stronger, wiser and will continue to pursue our dreams our own individual ways. We wish each other the best,” Anurag had tweeted on Saturday.

Phantom was a dream, a glorious one and all dreams come to an end . We did our best and we succeeded and we failed. But i know for sure we will come out of this stronger, wiser and will continue to pursue our dreams our own individual ways. We wish each other the best. — Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) October 5, 2018

Kangana, meanwhile, said in the interview that she lost a film that Vikas had pitched to her after she spoke in the support of the woman. “At that time Vikas had come to me with a script about a gold medalist from Haryana. When I supported the girl, he stopped talking to me. I didn’t mind losing out on a good script and I never called him either. I was determined to say what I felt was right. The matter was pushed under the carpet and I didn’t hear any updates on the same.”

She also demanded to know why Vikas is being attacked now, years after the woman accused him of abuse. “Shame on such a society. Go look at yourselves in the mirror, bunch of cowards, attacking powerless men won’t begin a movement. Either we do it or we don’t. Let’s not be opportunists. If we are a shit society, let’s accept it, at least have that much honesty within yourself. Selective outrage will only serve as entertainment, this will just be tabloid gossip and nothing else.”

Phantom’s last project is Hrithik Roshan-starrer Super 30. It will clash with Kangana’s Manikarnika at the box office on January 25 next year.