Filmmaker Vikas Bahl has been accused of sexually harassing a female employee of his Phantom Films, reported Mumbai Mirror on Thursday. A young woman who works for Phantom alleged that she was molested by Mr Bahl during a trip to Goa certain months ago. She also complained to Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Mantena, who own the company along with Mr Bahl, following which, the matter was escalated to Reliance Entertainment with whom Phantom has a 50-50 joint venture. Mr Bahl, in the meantime, has denied any such misconduct on his part.
One of the stakeholders, in the meantime, told Mumbai Mirror that Mr Bahl had stopped attending office and was reportedly told on March 28 to officially step down from his position. “We (Reliance Entertainment and Phantom Films) have taken a hard stand, based on what we have heard and investigated. The decision needed to be taken because it was getting too much," the stakeholder told Mumbai Mirror.
Mr Bahl, however, has contested the allegations and said that the woman in question is not an employee of Phantom.
“Nothing has happened. I am running the company. There is no complaint to HR and there is no Vishakha committee. I have heard about this particular lady you are speaking about and the Goa incident. She is not my employee. Yes, I am friends with her, we have worked together and there is a production job we have done together…but if she is feeling like this I would like to sit across a table from her and talk to her. I want to ask her if I have crossed a line, whether I have done anything to hurt her and if she feels that way I would like to apologise for it. I have known her for long. For two-and-a half years she has never made me feel as if she is uncomfortable (around me). 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,” Mr Bahl told Mumbai Mirror.
Meanwhile, the aforementioned stakeholder has alleged that this is not the only case of sexual harassment against Mr Bahl as he said: “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 (after all) 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 Mumbai Mirror report also quotes an anonymous partner of Mr Bahl, who said that the director has been "sacked." Madhu Mantena, however, said that no such action has been taken against the director.
Vikas Bahl has made films like Queen and Shaandaar.