Indian Film and Television Directors’ Association (IFTDA) has sent a notice demanding an explanation from filmmaker Sajid Khan after several women accused him of sexual harassment.
The notice with a subject ‘Complaint against you for sexual misconduct and molestation’ said, “We were shocked to receive the email complaints of Karishma Upadhyay, a journalist, Rachel White, and Simran Suri, both aspiring actors, against you for [outraging] the modesty of women by abusing your power as director of Humshakals and Himmatwala .”
“Your lewd and obscene actions have brought disrepute to the IFTDA. We, therefore, want an explanation from you for such offensive behaviour within seven days of the receipt of the notice for further action. In case of no reply, an ex-parte decision would be taken,” the letter signed by Ashok Pandit, honorary president of the association, said.
After Ms. Upadhyay’s and the two actors’ (Ms. White and Ms. Suri) accounts went public, actor Bipasha Basu on Monday tweeted about her experience with Mr. Khan’s rude behaviour on the set of Humshakals .
She wrote, “I am glad that women are speaking up about the atrocities of these men with power and clout... but nothing of that sort happened with me...it was just his general attitude toward women that would disturb me on set- he cracked lewd jokes openly and was pretty rude to all girls” and “I was told by all nt 2 say anything 2 him n stoop to his level- so I quietly finished my work as a professional and explained my stance to the producers .. that I couldnt associate myself with this film anymore as I could lose my temper any moment.”
