Queen’s lead actress, Kangana Ranaut has has accused the director Vikas Bahl os sexually harassing her on the sets of the film in 2014. In an interview with India Today, she spoke up in support of the lady who also filed a complaint about the director harassing her.
Last year, a woman employee at Phantom Films, a company Bahl is a partner at along with Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Mantena, declared that Bahl behaved inappropriately with her during a trip to Goa.
In a recent article, the woman has repeated the allegations, sharing further details about the incident. According to the report, in October 2015, the woman reached out to Kashyap and detailed her experience, but no action was taken. She further stated that Bahl continuously and repeatedly harassed her because of which she had to quit the company.
Kangana stepped up to support the survivor and told her own story. She stated, “ I totally believe her, 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,” Kangana said in a statement.
She further revealed how Bahl’s gestures made her feel uncomfortable. “Every time we met, socially greeted and hugged each other, he’d 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’. I could tell something is wrong with him”.
Kangana further shared her disappointment of how the story only picked up the momentum now and not when it actually happened. “That time the story was conveniently killed but I supported her at that time as well… I thought the movement would catch up but I was wrong,” she said.
“Shame on such a society, go look at yourselves in the mirror bunch of cowards. Attacking powerless men won’t begin a movement. Lets not be opportunists. Selective outrage will only serve as entertainment, this will just be tabloid gossip and nothing else,” she added.
Meanwhile, the four partners of Pantom Films announced to dissolve their joint venture without citing any reason. The company was founded in 2011 and produce films like ‘Bombay Velvet, Udta Punjab, Queen, Masaan, Ugly, Lootera and Raman Raghav 2.0’
Their last film as producers will be Hrithik Roshan-starrer ‘Super 30’. Directed by Bahl. The film is scheduled to be released on January 25, 2019.
