Mumbai: A few hours after a former employee of Phantom Films accused Super 30 director Vikas Bahl of sexual abuse, actor Kangana Ranaut has come forward and claimed of being harassed as well on the sets of Queen.
“Every time we met, socially greeted and hugged each other, he’d bury his face in my neck, hold me really tight and breathe in the smell of my hair. It took me great amount of strength and effort to pull myself out of his embrace. He’d say ‘I love how you smell K’,” Kangana said.
The 31-year-old actor said she could tell on the sets of the 2014 film that “something is wrong with him.” Kangana added “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. He partied every night and shamed me for sleeping early and not being cool enough.”
A Huffington Post report detailed the abuse of a former employee of the company founded by Anurag Kashyap, Madhu Mantena and Vikramaditya Motwane at the hands of Vikas, who was also a co-founder, in 2015. The report claims that while many people, including Anurag, were aware of the incident for a long time, they did not do enough.
Kangana, meanwhile, said in the interview that she lost a film that Vikas had pitched to her after she spoke in the support of the woman.
“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.”
She also demanded to know why Vikas is being attacked now, years after the woman accused him of abuse. “Shame on such a society. Go look at yourselves in the mirror, 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.”
Phantom’s last project is Hrithik Roshan-starrer Super 30. It will clash with Kangana’s Manikarnika at the box office January 25 next year.
Agencies