bollywood

Updated: Oct 10, 2018 12:43 IST

Director Vikas Bahl has hit back at friends and colleagues Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane after they publically called him out for allegedly molesting a female employee of their production company, Phantom Films. In two separate notice to the directors, Vikas accused them of being opportunists who are trying to cash in on the MeToo movement raging across the country.

Vikas has sought an ‘unconditional apology’ from Anurag and Vikramaditya in his legal notice sent on Tuesday. In the notice, Vikas says the entire case of sexual harassment against him was orchestrated by the two and ‘as a result of professional jealousy and with the sole intent to defame him, malign his image and destroy his career’.

The notice also said, “This makes us wonder whether the alleged incident [of sexual assault] also has any authenticity, given that the alleged victim was, in fact, working as your own employee.”

Vikas has been accused of sexually molesting an ex-employee of Phantom Films in 2015. Anurag said in a statement on his Twitter account that he regretted not acting on allegations of sexual misconduct made against his partner. In 2017, Bahl denied the allegations.

In his notice, Vikas says Anurag and Vikram defamed him. “You are neither a witness nor the alleged victim, but instead an opportunist seeking to derive benefit based on unsubstantiated information. The alleged incident has not been established in any court of law and that you have exploited the media to propagate your own personal vendetta,” it read.

The notice also says that the four co-owners were amicably discussing dissolving the company before the controversy reared its head. “There have been ongoing discussions between all four directors at Phantom to part ways amicably owing to creative and professional differences. You have thereafter, falsely and conveniently portrayed to the media that the reason for parting ways is supposedly,” it added.

“If you had reason to believe that there was some credibility in the story of the alleged incident, nothing ever prevented you from filing a complaint/take any action against our client however, you have merely procrastinated the issue and raised it only to meet your ulterior objective and used it to your commercial convenience which unequivocally raises questions on your own credibility and intentions. Sadly, your actions leave room for doubt on whether you ever intended to help the alleged victim. Moreover, not only did you not take any action but you also continued working with our client. If there were such differences between you and our client why did you allow him to start with his project Super 30 under the banner of Phantom Films. It appears that you had no problems in reaping the benefits from the success of this upcoming movie of our client however, had severe misgivings towards our client’s goodwill in the industry,” the notice said.

Meanwhile, Anurag Kashyap tweeted on Wednesday that he will be stepping away from his duties as the board member of MAMI in the light of recent events. He reiterated that he did all in his power to work with the victim. “I vehemently deny to have stayed silent on the issue & not doing anything about it for years. Can’t explain further to people who don’t understand due process, legalities. Have been resilient through all accusations , keep flinging them my way,” he wrote in a tweet.

The accused was named and shamed a long time back. For people who don’t read the details & only the headlines, I have no response. A lot of women work with me and have been around , I am answerable to them & they stand witness to our actions &our struggle to do the right thing. — Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) October 10, 2018

Let the purging continue .. it’s as good a time as any for all of us to introspect , look into ourselves and see how we all have been complicit in so much,with our silence, forced by fear of consequence or by choice. — Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) October 10, 2018

In more than a year I have questioned myself a lot, reflected on every single date I went to, every interaction of mine with the opposite sex, every encounter all that I could recall. — Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) October 10, 2018

And my greatest and simplest learning is that the line of consent is not just defined by "No" , most times it’s before that "No" is uttered. And the line of consent depends on the person that owns the consent. It varies from person to person. — Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) October 10, 2018

It’s our conditioning, even for the most woke people. Most of us are still learning , everyone who claims to know what it means , and I talk about us men , we really don’t know . None of us know . It can’t and should not be defined so simply. — Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) October 10, 2018

It begins with respecting the individuality and acknowledging the ownership the other has over herself, and continuing awareness of it. My mind has been restless over many day/nights &more I read everyone’s accounts , it keeps adding to it. — Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) October 10, 2018

I feel like just apologising for being a man. I use to feel I have come a long way from growing up in a smalltown &today I feel like somehow I am still there. There is so much I really don’t see & also see others around me pretending to see & I feel ,"inko bhi kahan dikhta hai" — Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) October 10, 2018

I was lucky to have had women who slapped me from time to time to turn that boy who at 18 told the girl in his class "ladkiyon ko yeh nahin karna chahiye " to whoever I have become today.But I also wonder ,why & when did they stopped slapping me and thought it’s enough. It isn’t. — Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) October 10, 2018

The #MeToo movement gained momentum in India after Tanushree spoke up against Nana Patekar almost two weeks ago. Following the revelation, many more such cases have come into the light. Filmmaker Vikas Bahl, among many others, has also been outed as one of the many alleged predators.

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