Indian actor Kangna Ranaut has become latest actress to come forward and accuse Queen director Vikas Bahl of sexual harassment.
The director harassed me during the shooting of the film, the actress claimed, reported India Today.
Her claim came a few hours after Anurag Kashyap announced the dissolution of Phantom Films.
Earlier, a woman came forward and recounted her tale of sexual harassment at the hands of filmmaker Vikas Bahl, who is one of the founders of Phantom Films. She said that Bahl had assaulted her during the promotional tour of Bombay Velvet in 2015.
Though she had reached out to Kashyap at the time, the matter was not given due importance until two years later.
Now, Kangana Ranaut, who worked with Bahl in Queen, has come out in support of the woman saying that she believes her.
In an exclusive interview with India Today, Kangana Ranaut revealed her own experience with Bahl.
Kangana said, that Bahl despite being married, would often boast about having casual sex with a new partner, every other day. She said, “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 a sickness. He partied every night and shamed me for sleeping early and not being cool enough.”
Kangana added that he would get a little too close for comfort at times. “I often told him off. He was scared of me but still every time we met, socially greeted and hugged each other, he’d bury his face in my neck and 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’.”
The 31-year-old actress said, “I could tell something is wrong with him. I believe this girl. But what is sad, is that now that Phantom has been dissolved, many are attacking him, even though the girl asked for help long ago. At that time, the story was conveniently killed, but I supported her at that time as well. You can see my media interaction during one of my brand endorsement interactions. I thought the movement [MeToo] would catch up but I was wrong.”
Kangana added that she lost out on a project after she supported the girl. “At that time Vikas had come to me with a script about a gold medalist from Haryana. When I supported the girl, he stopped talking to me. I didn’t mind losing out on a good script and I never called him either. I was determined to say what I felt was right. The matter was pushed under the carpet and I didn’t hear any updates on the same.”
“It’s amusing that after the news of Phantom dissolution many are finding the courage to attack him. Shame on such a society. Go look at yourselves in the mirror, a bunch of cowards, attacking powerless men won’t begin a movement. Either we do it or we don’t. Let’s not be opportunists. If we are a shit society, let’s accept it, at least have that much honesty within yourself. Selective outrage will only serve as entertainment, this will just be tabloid gossip and nothing else,” she said.
