In wake of the recent #MeToo movement in India, filmmaker Sajid Khan was accused of sexual harassment by several women, including journalist Karishma Upadhyay and actors like Saloni Chopra, Rachel White and Simran Puri. Soon after Sajid tweeted out his resignation as the director of Housefull 4, his cousin Farhan Akhtar was the first family member who stated that he should "atone for his alleged actions".
Speaking at the recently held 'We The Women' event in Mumbai, Farhan finally opened up on the #MeToo allegations against Sajid by admitting that he has a "certain guilt about that," as quoted by a leading news agency. "If I did know I would've spoken about it way before the story broke. There was this certain guilt about that. How could this be going on and I had no idea? So there were conflicted emotions," he added.
The actor-singer-filmmaker further elaborated on the conflicted emotions by pointing out, "It was surprise, disappointment and strangely, because when it's a member of your family, you also feel a certain level of guilt. It's happened to all of us in the past when we hear something like this and say 'but how come someone so close to him didn't know'."
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Sajid Khan[/caption]
Farhan also maintained that an apology would be appropriate to begin with, "To start with apologising is a big step. To say 'I am sorry about what I did' is a big step, it can make a person feel a lot better," he was quoted as saying at the event.
Meanwhile, following his resignation, production house Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment announced that the film will be directed by Farhad Samji, who previously directed Housefull 3.
