In Vikas Bahl, Bollywood has found its own Harvey Weinstein, but what is more disturbing is the general inaction and apathy by the members of the holier-than-thou Bollywood fraternity.
The past few days have stirred up a hornet’s nest in Bollywood, with alarming revelations of sexual misconduct tumbling out of Bollywood’s hallowed closet. Actors are being pulled up for their deafening silence by the watchdogs of our society. Akshay Kumar is vociferously trolled for shooting with Nana Patekar in Housefull 4 and Hrithik Roshan reproached for working with Vikas Bahl in Super 30.
A chilling sexual assault account by a survivor and former employee of Phantom Films, of which Vikas Bahl is a partner, published in the Huffington Post, named and shamed the Queen director for molestation. Invariably, former associates and ex-friends of Bahl have come forward to say that these revelations had actually erupted two years ago, but were duly hushed up by Bahl’s partners. Unfortunately, this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Vikas Bahl
In a series of fresh accusations, actress Kangana Ranaut lambasted director Vikas Bahl for sexual harrassment on the sets of Queen, a film that she won a National Award for. In an interview with a leading magazine she says, “Every time we met, socially greeted and hugged each other, he (Bahl) would bury his face in my neck, hold me really tight and breathe in the smell of my hair. It took me a great amount of strength and effort to pull myself out of his embrace. He’d say ‘I love how you smell K’,” she reveals. Adding, “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,” says the actress.
Mirroring Kangana’s statements, in another turn of events, a producer who does not wish to be named and who was closely associated with one of the partners at Phantom Films confirms, “Vikas Bahl is a known sex addict with a compulsive need to have sex with as many partners as possible.” The producer was also privy to a few incidents where Vikas’ despicable behaviour was on fully display, reveals, “I’ve seen Vikas in action with women at parties after a few drinks. Once I saw him put his hand up a lady’s dress in full view of guests at a party. This is when my wife told me to quit my association with them. And I did.”
The stories about Vikas have been doing the rounds for years at Phantom Films, but his colleagues dismissed the claims and chose to rely on their cognitive biases instead, he says, “Everyone, including Anurag Kashyap who now wants to champion the cause of aggrieved women at Phantom, turned a blind eye and deaf ear to Vikas’s dirty doings. It was said that he would wait for his wife to go to sleep and then go out to look for his prey. Vikas’ sex addiction is nothing new,” says the producer.
The question that looms at large now is, what will happen to the film Super 30 that Vikas Bahl is directing for Phantom?
Hansal Mehta
While Hrithik Roshan, shockingly chose to remain silent on the issue when questioned, Aanand Kumar - the mathematician on whom the film is based, protested against Bahl saying, "I don't watch that many films. But I had seen Vikas' Queen and liked it. I readily agreed to the film on my life being directed by him. Earlier it was to be directed by Anurag Basu and I liked his Barfi too, so I had agreed. Beyond this, I know nothing about what is going on."
While it is easy to accept Anand's rationale, as he is far removed from the Mumbai film industry, Hrithik Roshan cannot absolve himself of the murky charge of working with a sexual predator who is now known as Bollywood's Harvey Weinstein. Earlier Hrithik cried himself hoarse over being sexually harassed for two years by Kangana Ranaut and ironically, now makes a 360-degree turn when it comes to standing up against Vikas' randy reputation.
Filmmaker Hansal Mehta who condemned Vikas in the strongest words on twitter, has also condemned Hrithik for turning a deaf ear. But much to his dismay, Hansal has had to suspend activity on his twitter account after being rambunctiously trolled on Twitter. Sadly, this only lays bare the deep cracks in the sullied mentality of our society and the depth of the problem at hand. "After I spoke out against Vikas Bahl, Hrithik's and Kangana's fans started trolling me. How is that going to help? Don't shoot the messenger. The problem of sexual harassment goes much deeper. Why is the entertainment industry not empowered to protect women against sexual harassment?" He questions.
