Ever since Vikas Bahl has been accused of sexual harassment by a crew member of Queen, problems do not seem to end for Vikas or his members from the Phantom Films. Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Madhu Mantena and Vikas were the members who ran Phantom Films but after allegations surrounding Vikas started doing rounds; the members decided to dissolve Phantom films and decided to work with Reliance entertainment on an individual basis. While another actress from Queen revealed that Vikas tried to sexually harass her too, Anurag recently tweeted that he has stepped down from the MAMI Board till the matter is cleared. After Anurag was accused by many for staying silent and not doing anything for the women, the filmmakers in a serious of tweets also revealed that he has played an integral part when the allegations first surfaced.
Check out his tweets!
In the light of the current events , I have decided to step back from my duties as a board member from MAMI until the shadow of doubt of our alleged complicitness in silence and not doing anything about it , is cleared.
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) October 10, 2018
On the other hand I vehemently deny to have stayed silent on the issue & not doing anything about it for years. Can’t explain further to people who don’t understand due process, legalities. Have been resilient through all accusations , keep flinging them my way.
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) October 10, 2018
The accused was named and shamed a long time back. For people who don’t read the details & only the headlines, I have no response. A lot of women work with me and have been around , I am answerable to them & they stand witness to our actions &our struggle to do the right thing.
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) October 10, 2018
Let the purging continue .. it’s as good a time as any for all of us to introspect , look into ourselves and see how we all have been complicit in so much,with our silence, forced by fear of consequence or by choice.
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) October 10, 2018
In more than a year I have questioned myself a lot, reflected on every single date I went to, every interaction of mine with the opposite sex, every encounter all that I could recall.
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) October 10, 2018
And my greatest and simplest learning is that the line of consent is not just defined by “No” , most times it’s before that “No” is uttered. And the line of consent depends on the person that owns the consent. It varies from person to person.
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) October 10, 2018
It’s our conditioning, even for the most woke people. Most of us are still learning , everyone who claims to know what it means , and I talk about us men , we really don’t know . None of us know . It can’t and should not be defined so simply.
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) October 10, 2018
I feel like just apologising for being a man. I use to feel I have come a long way from growing up in a smalltown &today I feel like somehow I am still there. There is so much I really don’t see & also see others around me pretending to see & I feel ,”inko bhi kahan dikhta hai”
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) October 10, 2018
I was lucky to have had women who slapped me from time to time to turn that boy who at 18 told the girl in his class “ladkiyon ko yeh nahin karna chahiye “ to whoever I have become today.But I also wonder ,why & when did they stopped slapping me and thought it’s enough. It isn’t.
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) October 10, 2018
Apart from Vikas, others who have been accused of sexual harassment are, Nana Patekar, Rajat Kapoor, Utsav Chakraborty, Kailash Kher, Varun Grover and Alok Nath.