Anurag Kashyap gave no reason when he tweeted that Phantom Films, the production house he founded along with Madhu Mantena, Vikramaditya Motwane and Vikas Bahl had been dissolved and the filmmakers have decided to go their separate ways. However, an expose published in an entertainment portal sheds light on a very murky and sordid backstory of sexual harassment that Anurag’s tweet does not talk about. The Phantom Films’ dissolution could be the endgame of sexual harassment charges against co-owner and co-founder Vikas Bahl that first surfaced last year and was widely reported.
The woman accused Bahl of sexual misconduct and revealed harrowing details of the assault but also revealed that how the partners including Kashyap did nothing about it until recently. Kashyap was told about the assault in October 2015 but he did nothing about it for years. However, he and his girlfriend Shubhra Shetty, contacted the woman last year, a little before the allegations were reported in the media, to say that they had decided to ‘set things right’.
https://twitter.com/anuragkashyap72/status/1048301339971936256
As reported by the entertainment portal, the Phantom Films’ partners spent months with a legal team discussing what actions could be taken but they were told as a founding member, Bahl could not be fired. So the inevitable result was that the production house had to dissolve. The portal’s account also calls out Kashyap for his inaction and notes that Phantom Films violated the prevention of workplace sexual harassment act at several levels because they questioned the survivor without having any woman present or presiding the meeting. Apparently, it was Madhu Mantena who asked the woman questions and also asked her how drunk she was on the night of the assault.
Several celebrities have cited the expose on Twitter including noted director Hansal Mehta and actor Kubra Sait.
https://twitter.com/mehtahansal/status/1048519401450795009
https://twitter.com/mehtahansal/status/1048523842228903936
https://twitter.com/kubrasait/status/1048513348374056960
After Tanushree Dutta's sexual harassment allegations against Nana Patekar several women have come out alleging sexual assault and harassment against noted names. AIB's stand-up comic Utsav Chakraborty was also outed for sexual misconduct and sending lewd pictures to women and even minors. Several noted journalists, editors, a noted judge and even author Chetan Bhagat has been named for their sexual misconduct and behaviour. Looks like India's very own #MeToo has just started.
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