‘Queen’ director accused of sexual harassment

Director Vikas Bahl has been accused of sexually harassing a female colleague whilst on holiday in Goa.  The ‘Queen’ (2013) director reportedly molested an employee of Phantom Films and subsequently has been asked to step down from his role as a co-partner in the company.

According to Indian Express, the incident took place a few months back whilst Bahl was on holiday with the team.  The alleged victim then escalated the issue and as a result, the remaining partners which include Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Mantena, took the decision to ask the director to step down.   To add fuel to the fire, an unnamed partner stated this is not the first time this incident has occurred and action needed to be taken.  “The decision needed to be taken because it was getting too much. There are not one, two or three but multiple victims. I was in the middle of a film shoot when I came to know about the first incident and I had to stop my shoot and come to Mumbai… there is a young girl on whom an intoxicated Vikas forced himself while they were in Goa. He has behaved badly in the past as well but when this specific complaint came, we needed to act on it” the unnamed source is reported to have said.

However Bahl has vehemently denied the allegations, stating he is looking after his mother in Delhi and has not been fired from the company.  Speaking about the allegations Bahl said “I have heard about this particular lady you are speaking about and the Goa incident. She is not my employee”.  Bahl also went onto say the women in question is a friend he has known for a number of years and would apologise to her if she felt he crossed the line.  The director added he feels targeted and believes there are forces at work to belittle his name and success. “I have worked very hard to be the person I have become. I do feel a little victimised but I don’t know what to do about that” he concluded.

Stay tuned to BizAsiaLive.com for further updates.