Forced split

Anurag Kashyap’s production company has become caught in a controversy. While Bollywood has long been known for the casting couch and unwelcome sexual advances, sometimes the names it throws up can be shocking. This time the person who has come under the scanner is Vikas Bahl, the director of Queen, a movie that almost everyone loved and was a big blockbuster. It had made Vikas overnight one of the most sought after directors in Bollywood. A tabloid broke a story on its front page, saying that the team that started Phantom Films— Vikas, Anurag, director Vikramaditya Motwane and producer Madhu Mantena — has split, with Vikas leaving or being asked to go. This was after a woman had come and complained that he had made unwelcome sexual advances on her recently during a work trip. The report further said that other women had also come forward with similar allegations. But Vikas had not been named in the article, because no criminal charges had been made. The next day however the same tabloid ran a front page story with his photo and this time also with a reaction from him.  A corporate house that owns half the stake in Phantom also got involved when the complaint was forwarded to them and they reportedly decided action was needed. Vikas was said to be drunk when he made the advance. Vikas, for his part, maintained that there was no formal complaint against him and he was very much a part of Phantom. He admitted to knowing the lady even if she wasn’t an employee of the company. He in fact wanted to meet her and sort it out in a private discussion. There is however little hope of that since with issues that involve sexual harassment, the cat gets out of the bag when the media gets involved. How this plays out will be interesting but it will certainly be a deterrent to such practices that have been long prevalent in the industry.