Anurag Kashyap hit with sexual harassment claims
As per a new research, a majority of respondents don’t want to buy products that are endorsed by ‘drug-tainted’ celebs. Experts say the final impact of this depends on the outcome of investigations
After a tweet and an interview to a Telugu channel, actor Payal Ghosh started trending on Twitter on Saturday evening. Accusing filmmaker Anurag Kashyap of sexual assault, she wrote, “he forced himself on me and extremely badly”.
In the video interview, she revealed, “I went to meet him, and the next day, he took me to his room, just opened his zip and tried to force his c*** into my vagina. He said ‘all actresses who’ve worked with me like Huma Qureshi, Richa Chadha, Mahie Gill, they are just a call away. Whenever I call them, they come running and suck my c***’.”
Speaking to us, Ghosh claims people dissuaded her from speaking out till now. “This incident happened during the time he was making Bombay Velvet. My brother and family said don’t talk about this, you will get into controversy,” she says.
Ghosh adds that she tried tweeting about this at least five-six times, once as recently as two months back. “I tagged him, too, but I was forced by my manager and brother to delete it. My friends said if you are speaking the truth, your career can be hampered,” she says.
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NCW chief Rekha Sharma replied to her the same way as she did to Payal Ghosh. Afterwards, Bhavnani again tweeted that a “social media trial doesn’t work for her, and she wants to file a formal complaint first”.
While Kashyap has denied all allegations, actor Kangana Ranaut came out in support of Ghosh. Among others who came out spoke out in favour of Kashyap were actors Taapsee Pannu, Surveen Chawla, Mahie Gill, and filmmakers Vasan Bala and Anubhav Sinha.
National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma took cognisance of Ghosh’s tweet and wrote back to her. At the time of going to press, we are told NCW has had a chat with Ghosh who had said “she will send the complaint shortly”.
It goes without saying that drug abuse is detrimental to one’s health. And now, going by the latest report of Indian Institute of Human Brands (IIHB), it can hit a brand image adversely, too.
Even as Narcotics Control
Bureau (NCB) continues its investigation in the drug scandal involving certain Bollywood actors, the IIHB research shows that 85% of the respondents said they wouldn’t buy a brand/product endorsed by a drug-tainted celebrity. While 68% found such behaviour by celebrities ‘disturbing’, 54% were not surprised that celebrities use drugs. Experts, on their part, feel any kind of “bad press shakes a brand”. “That way, it’s surely bad news for celebrities [whose names have cropped up]. Brands get scared easily. So, even if an endorser is involved in a road accident, they’ll start having second thoughts. That’s why it’ll have a direct/indirect impact but the extent of it will depend on what the final outcome of the investigation is,” says ad guru Prahlad Kakkar. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh feels that those who are “proven to be involved will take a major hit vis-à-vis their brand value and image, not just in the ad world but across the board.”
As per the research, when respondents were asked if they could recall any of the names [of actors] mentioned in the media, apparently, 48% spontaneously named Sara Ali
Khan, while 42% could recall Rakul Preet Singh. Rhea Chakraborty and Simone Khambatta were mentioned, too. Ad filmmaker and Bollywood director Vinil Mathew believes “in the short term, it may have an effect on people”. “It could even make many buyers anxious. But the ‘silent majority’, who buys products especially FMCG ones, are unlikely to be swayed, as of now,” he says.
At the same time, Mathew feels any kind of “long-term impact” [on named celebs’ brand value] “will depend on the outcome of investigations”. He adds, “Also, majorly, only those products that have a large online connect are likely
Trust and belief matter!
After Bollywood actor Rhea Chakraborty’s surprising disclosures, during the drug abuse investigation by the NCB, and names of Sara Ali Khan and Rakul Preet Singh, among others, coming up in the public domain, IIHB apparently conducted a telephonic research over the September 12-13, 2020 weekend reaching 487 respondents (M 251, F 236) across India to gauge reactions to the continued use of such celebs for brand endorsement. Among other findings, as high as 82% youngsters in the 18-30 year age group said drug abuse by a celebrity made them ‘untrustworthy’. Also, 88% of the sample said brands that use such celebrities would fall in their esteem, and they may not ‘trust’ such brands.
to be temporarily affected since the case is getting amplified on social media.” But Kakkar feels “public memory is too short”. “They deliver one or two hits, and everything will be forgotten,” he concludes.