Filmmaker Kashyap calls sexual harassment allegations ‘ baseless’
Mumbai, Sept. 20: Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who has been accused by actor Payal Ghosh of sexual harassment, on Sunday said the claim is “baseless” and found support in his industry friends, with Hansal Mehta, Taapse Pannu, Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub as well as former wife, film editor Aarti Bajaj crediting him for creating safe work space for women.
On Saturday, Ghosh took to Twitter and wrote that the Gangs of Wasseypur director was sexually inappropriate towards her, a claim he has dismissed.
The 30- year- old actor tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi in her tweet, requesting him to take action against
Kashyap.
“@ anuragkashyap72 has forced himself on me and extremely badly. @ PMOIndia @ narendramodi ji, kindly take action and let the country see the demon behind this creative guy. I am aware that it can harm me and my security is at risk. Please help!” Ghosh wrote.
In a video released to ABN Telugu, Ghosh claimed that the incident happened in 2014- 2015.
The actor, who made her Hindi debut with Rishi Kapoor- Paresh Rawal starrer Patel Ki Punjabi Shaadi, also claimed that Kashyap boasted about his connection with megastar Amitabh Bachchan and claimed that there were other female artistes who he got intimate with.
Dismissing the allegations, Kashyap called Ghosh’s claim an attempt to “silence” him.
An outspoken critic of administration and a member of the Indian film industry who is vocal about the vilification of Bollywood by celebrities and trolls online, the director said it had taken some people “such a long time” to “shut me up”.