'Queen' director Vikas Bahl allegedly molested Phantom employee
A Phantom employee has alleged she was molested by filmmaker Vikas Bahl during a trip to Goa. After she complained to Anurag Kashyap, Madhu Mantena and Vikramaditya Motwane, co-owners of Phantom along with Bahl, the matter was escalated to Reliance Entertainment, with whom Phantom shares a 50-50 venture. Bahl denied the allegations; however, he has reportedly been asked to step down from his position.
Bahl denies allegations, wants to "apologize if he crossed line"
Denying all allegations, Bahl said, "…This particular lady… is not my employee. I am friends with her, we have worked together…but if she is feeling like this I would like to sit across a table from her and talk to her." He added he felt "a little victimized", but "would like to apologize" if he had crossed the line.
Not the first time?
However, an anonymous stakeholder said this isn't the first allegation against Bahl. "There are not one, two or three, but multiple victims." He reportedly heard of the first incident in the middle-of-a-shoot, which he had to stop midway. This time, he said there is "a young girl on whom an intoxicated Vikas forced himself. When this specific complaint came, we needed to act."
Vikas Bahl - creator of feminist movie 'Queen'
Bahl has been associated as an assistant producer in several famous movies, including 'Black', 'Dev D', 'Udaan' and 'No One Killed Jessica'. He was particularly lauded for the Kangana Ranaut starrer 'Queen', which showed a single girl breaking social expectations and living for herself.
