Meanwhile, actors Emraan Hashmi and Arshad Warsi refuse to comment on the controversy
Mumbai: After bringing many perpetrators to light, the #MeToo movement continues to surge forward as filmmaker Raju Hirani became the latest to get accused of sexual harassment.
In an article on HuffPost India, a woman, addressing herself "an assistant" in the film crew of Sanju, alleged that Hirani sexually abused her more than once between March and September 2018. Hirani denied the accusations and released a statement in which he said he was "shocked" when the claims were brought to his notice two months ago.
His lawyer, Anand Desai called the allegations "false, mischievous, scandalous, motivated and defamatory" in the article.
Meanwhile, many in the film fraternity are coming out to support the Sanju hitmaker. According to a report in Bollywood Life, filmmaker Boney Kapoor said, “Rajkumar Hirani is too good a man to do something like this. I don’t believe this allegation. He can never do something like this.” Actor Sharman Joshi, who had worked with Hirani in 3 Idiots, also tweeted in his support.
The hashtag #istandforrajuhirani has been doing the rounds with many coming out to post messages in favour of the filmmaker.
The accuser detailed her allegations in an email dated November 3, 2018, to Hirani's frequent collaborator and Sanju co-producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra.
The woman said that on April 9, 2018, the director first passed a sexually suggestive remark to her and later sexually assaulted her at his home-office. "I remember forming these words on my lips - 'Sir, This is wrong. Because of this power structure. You being the absolute power and me being a mere assistant, a nobody - I will never be able to express myself to you'," she wrote of the April 9 incident in the email to Chopra, as quoted by HuffPost India.
The woman said Hirani was a father figure for her. She wrote, "My mind, body and heart were grossly violated that night and for the next 6 months."
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