One interview is all it took to set things in motion for India’s current #MeToo movement. Tanushree Dutta spoke about the alleged sexual harassment she faced at the hands of Nana Patekar during the filming of the movie ‘Horn Ok Please’ from 10 years ago. But unlike back then, with social media being a formidable force now, Tanushree’s story gained incredible traction.
Taking a cue from the actress, countless women named and shamed their harassers on Twitter. Men holding respectable positions among journalists and comedians got called out for their sexual misconducts and the repercussions of it are still unfolding.
And though Bollywood held it’s silence for quite a while, it couldn’t completely avoid the storm. One after the other names came out, and that too, really unexpected ones.
While Alok Nath hasn’t been named per se, Vinta Nanda’s accounts of being raped and harassed by “the most sanskaari actor” in the film and television industry have left Twitter with no doubt as to who it is. As for Rajat Kapoor, he decided to cut his losses short by issuing an apology as soon as his name came out.
For Vikas Bahl though, the troubles just seem to be getting started. 3 women, including Kangana Ranaut, have called him out on his sexual misconducts.
Following their lead, actress Nayani Dixit has opened up about being harassed by the director during the filming of ‘Queen’.
Speaking to Bollywood Hungama, the actress said:
“Whatever the girl has accused Vikas Bahl is not at all wrong because he also tried his hand on me. I literally told him that ‘main tumhe maarungi if you do this again’. So I am sure he did the same with the girl in question as well.”
She reveals that after thwarting his advances, Bahl was extremely rude to her on set. She recounts an incident with her hair the next day where he yelled at her, even though it wasn’t her department. Looking back at the incident, she says he was probably taking revenge for not getting a chance with her.
Nayani also speaks of the questionable conditions they were made to live in by the Phantom Films production team. She says that they were kept in a 2-star hotel, to which when she protested, Vikas allegedly said that she could share a room with him instead.
As per her accounts, she wasn’t the only woman harassed by Bahl on the sets of ‘Queen’:
“We were shooting for the ‘London Thumakda’ song and in the crew, there was a 21-year-old local Delhi girl who was in the costume department. Vikas flirted even with her and she was very uncomfortable and she later confided to me that why this person is always behind me.”
She corroborates Kangana’s statement about having known about Bahl, adding that Kangana was a witness to this drama as well.
As for why she never spoke out before, Nayani says she didn’t know anyone in the Phantom team or the cast, and that since she was alone she decided to keep quiet for the time being.
She had previously expressed her disappointment at having worked with the Phantom team for the movie, which she calls “the worst mistake” of her life:
Thank god it’s shut #PhantomFilms the worst production house I have ever worked in during queen, wid shittiest people n shittiest attitude towards new actors wid money exploitation #ShameOnYou @Bollyhungama @TheQuint @viralbollywood @Bollywoodirect @BollywoodGandu @viralbollywood
— Nayani Dixit (@nayanidixit) October 7, 2018
Yes I have posted it and I’m truly happy that it’s shut … worst place I have ever worked in during Queen .. these people and the staff- first of all they… https://t.co/feX11ihLBh
— Nayani Dixit (@nayanidixit) October 7, 2018
Out of the four pillars of Phantom, she has praises only for Vikramaditya Motwane, who she says is only interested in his work and nothing else. Nayani also accuses Bahl of not deserving the accolades he received for ‘Queen’ as she says he has zero knowledge of filmmaking and that it was his chief assistant director who did all the work.
Like it or not, women from all industries are on a mission to weasel out all the sexual harassers masquerading as “woke” progressive gentlemen in their midst. The waves from this movement will be felt for months to come, if not longer.