Vikas Bahl Accused Of Sexual Harassment. Is India’s #MeToo Movement Finally Here?

Vikas Bahl Accused Of Sexual Harassment. Is India’s #MeToo Movement Finally Here?

If you are a woman on Indian Twittter, this weekend was heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, and probably left you with little faith in men.

Most women, emotionally exhausted and spent, logged off the social network, overwhelmed with the number of men who were being named and shamed. Some were friends, some family and as details emerged, every woman was a little taken aback. You didn’t think ‘he’ could do it, you didn’t think it was so pervasive.

But finally, it looks like Indian women are in no mood to forgive. And thank god for that. It was a long time coming, but perhaps this is the #MeToo movement we have been waiting for.

And the ripples have hit Bollywood as well. In the wake of the Tanushree Dutta confessions, a lot of women have come forward to name other harassers as well. And one name that has consistently hit the headlines is that of Vikas Bahl, the director of Queen. The man has been accused by women of sexual misconduct.

Kangana who played the lead in the movie said, “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’. I could tell something is wrong with him.”

After this, another actress (anonymously) has also accused the director of being inappropriate with her. She said the director tried to kiss her when he was drunk causing her to leave the party.

The company Vikas worked for, Phantom Films is being dissolved and these allegations might have been the trigger. The company is co-owned by Vikas, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Mantena.

There are plenty of other people who have been named. An author who goes by the name Rameez, apologised.

https://twitter.com/Battameez/status/1048901245078065154

https://twitter.com/skhndh/status/1049024857114071040

The founder of Creativeland Asia, an ad agency has some allegations against him.

And then if you still have the heart, here’s a list of the men who have been called out.

 

https://twitter.com/weeny/status/1048882726366040065

There are lots of skeletons tumbling out of the closet. We can only hope that the accused, if found guilty, are punished. One thing’s for sure, the country needs this right now.

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