The filmmaker recalled the time when he did something similar without realising it counted as sexual misconduct
Mumbai: Popular Bollywood director Anurag Kashyap shut down his production company Phantom Films after one of his co-founders Vikas Bahl was caught in the MeToo storm. The same production house has given hit movies like Queen, Lootera, NH10, Masaan, Raman Raghav 2.0, Udta Punjab, Trapped and many more.
A video was recently posted on Facebook by Anurag Kashyap on Brut India page saying, that he wants to be answerable for himself and not for things that he couldn't control.
"The whole MeToo movement in India started off and it was so strong, it was affecting change. And then, today, everybody talks about Rakhi Sawant who is just seeking attention and does nothing more than that. And everything goes astray and everybody stops bothering about it." Anurag said.
Anurag also recalled the time when he did something and didn't realise that he has done something wrong.
"We have to sit down and question ourselves before we question others. I was 18-19, sitting in a class when I saw a girl smoking, it was my conditioning that made me tell her 'Women should not smoke.' And that girl looked at me and scoffed at me and walked off. I'm like 'What did I say wrong?' When you read every single account, you feel like 'This seems familiar. Maybe I've done this too. Maybe this is how I was.' It's very honest to introspect because that's where the change will begin," Kashyap concluded.
He also revealed the limits of the Indian legal system during the hearing of the sexual harassment case filed against Vikas. The former employee who had accused Vikas Bahl of sexual harassment has decided to drop the case against him. She said that she will not file any legal affidavit against Vikas in court and doesn't want to escalate the issue further stating that she has had enough.
"The judge says that 'You have no right to be a crusader on behalf of somebody who doesn't want to file a complaint," Kashyap added.
Vikas Bahl was accused of sexual harassment by a former employee of Phantom Films, for an incident that took place in Goa. The allegation resurfaced as the MeToo movement garnered steam in India.
Soon people started accusing Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane of being complicit and protecting Vikas Bahl even when they knew about his sexual misdeeds.
According to reports, both Anurag and Vikramaditya had said that they did listen to the victim's ordeal following which they stripped Vikas of any signing authority and not allowing him to produce films.
Later, Vikas has moved the Mumbai High Court with a Rs 10 crore defamation suit against his former Phantom Films partners Anurag and Vikramaditya amid the MeToo madness.
Read Exclusive COVID-19 Coronavirus News updates, at MyNation.