As filmmaker Shazia Iqbal cries hoarse that her film was unfairly dropped from MAMI owing to being co-produced by Kashyap, a #MeToo accomplice, his other movie continues to be featured in the schedule
Mumbai: In a puzzling move, the upcoming Mumbai Film Festival is continuing to screen filmmaker Anurag Kashyap produced Los Silencios while allegedly dropping his another venture Bebaak owing to #MeToo allegations against him.
According to the show schedule on the MAMI website, Los Silencios will be screened on October 30 at 4.30pm in PVR ICON in Mumbai.
It all came to head when the director of Bebaak, Shazia Iqbal, wrote an open letter to the festival organisers saying, "I understand there are ‘collateral damages’ in a battle but my film is as feminist as this battle we are fighting; and if you’re shutting down a film that starts a conversation against misogyny and patriarchy, then what side of the battle are you on? What side of the movement do you all belong to?"
In the letter, she alleged that Bebaak was suddenly dropped from the line-up and that she was told 'privately' that Kashyap’s involvement with her film was the reason.
However, a Brazilian movie, also co-produced by Kashyap, still features in the show schedule.
The Dev D filmmaker even took to Instagram to promote the movie, asking his fans to watch out for his 'producer credit' while the MAMI organisers issued a general statement to the filmmakers whose films they couldn't screen at this edition. The release said, "However, we at MAMI are in solidarity with #MeToo, and we stand by our decision because there is a larger movement that has begun. We request understanding from the filmmakers and the many people involved with making these films."
A former employee had levelled sexual harassment allegations against filmmaker Vikas Bahl during a trip to Goa. The woman reportedly worked at Phantom Films, which had Bahl as one of the partners alongside Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Mantena, and spoke about her experiences to HuffPost India.
According to the woman, insisted on dropping her to her hotel room on the early hours of 5 May 2015 and pretended to pass out drunk on her bed, only to awaken soon after and masturbate on her. She also said that even after reporting the incident to Anurag Kashyap, no stringent action was taken and she ended up resigning in 2017.
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