Allegations and cases filed in the past have been resurfacing with the #MeToo movement gaining momentum in Bollywood. The movement has resulted in actor Aamir Khan stepping down as a producer of Subhash Kapoor’s upcoming biopic on Gulshan Kumar, the late founder of T-Series, owing to molestation charges levied against him by actor Geetika Tyagi in 2014. Mr.Kapoor said that since the matter is sub judice, “he intends to prove his innocence in the court of law.”
Ms.Tyagi lauded Mr. Khan’s decision on Twitter saying, “This is the kind of support we want so more and more women can come out.” She had on Tuesday tweeted to Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, which has Aamir Khan’s wife Kiran Rao as the chairperson, asking if Ms. Rao “remembers that her husband was working with Mr. Kapoor, who is being prosecuted for sexual assault and molestation.”
Later on Wednesday evening Mr. Khan and Ms. Rao issued a statement saying that their production house, Aamir Khan Productions, is stepping away from the biopic. “We believe that this is an opportunity for the film industry to introspect and take concrete steps towards change,” wrote Mr. Khan.
In 2014, Geetika Tyagi had uploaded a video, filmed on a hidden camera, on YouTube in which she was seen slapping Mr. Kapoor and confronting his wife Dimple Kharbanda. Referring to the video, Mr. Kapoor said in his statement, “ I do want to raise a question – is secretly filming a crying woman without her consent and knowledge and uploading it on social media not harassment or abuse? Or is it fine if she is related to someone who is “accused” of a misconduct. If your answer is latter then for me it’s nothing less than a khaap panchayat mentality.”
