MUMBAI: A prominent Bollywood director accused of sexual harassment denied the allegations Wednesday as he threatened to sue two fellow filmmakers for defamation over the case which has helped fuel India’s #MeToo movement.
Vikas Bahl is accused of assaulting an employee of Phantom Films — an edgy production house behind Netflix’s first original Indian series, “Sacred Games” — in a hotel in 2015.
In accusations published on HuffPost India Saturday, the unnamed woman said Bahl had insisted on escorting her to her room and pretended to pass out drunk on her bed.
Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane, who along with Bahl and another filmmaker founded Phantom Films, released statements on Twitter later that day backing the woman.
The report came after they had announced they were dissolving the production company on Friday.
Bahl, director of “Queen,” a 2014 hit movie about female empowerment, issued a denial through his lawyer on Wednesday in his first public statement responding to the allegation.
A legal notice released to the media and seen by AFP said Bahl “denies all allegations.”
“Vikas Bahl issues defamation notice to Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane threatening civil and criminal action,” it added.
The notice accused Kashyap and Motwane of “professional rivalry and jealously” and of trying to jeopardize the release of Bahl’s upcoming film “Super 30.”
It called for them to withdraw the claims and issue an apology or face being sued.
The year-old #MeToo movement has finally gathered steam in India in recent days with Bollywood figures, a government minister, several comedians and top journalists among those accused of abusing their positions to behave improperly toward women.
The spark was Hindi film actress Tanushree Dutta, who in a recent interview accused well-known Bollywood actor Nana Patekar of inappropriate behavior on a film set 10 years ago. He denies the allegations.
A Mumbai comedian, Utsav Chakraborty, last week found himself at the center of a Twitter storm accusing him of sending lewd messages and requests for topless photos to women and young girls. He later apologized.
The HuffPost article on Bahl appeared before a host of women journalists accused M. J Akbar, a well-known former editor and now a junior foreign minister in Narendra Modi’s government of sexual harassment.
Akbar is yet to comment publicly on the allegations and the government is yet to issue a response.
On Monday, writer and producer Vinta Nanda accused veteran film actor Alok Nath of raping her 19 years ago.
“Neither I am denying this nor do I would agree with it. It (rape) must have happened, but someone else would have done it,” Nath told an Indian news channel.
Bollywood director denies #MeToo claims, threatens filmmakers
Bollywood director denies #MeToo claims, threatens filmmakers
- An unnamed woman said director Bahl had insisted on escorting her to her room and pretended to pass out drunk on her bed
- Bahl denied the allegations in a public statement issued Wednesday
Cambodia takes back looted historic artifacts handled by British art dealer
- The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodian officials on Friday received more than six dozen historic artifacts described as part of the country’s cultural heritage that had been looted during decades of war and instability.
At a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister Hun Many, the 74 items were unveiled at the National Museum in Phnom Penh after their repatriation from the United Kingdom.
The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia.
“This substantial restitution represents one of the most important returns of Khmer cultural heritage in recent years, following major repatriations in 2021 and 2023 from the same collection,” the Culture Ministry said in a statement. “It marks a significant step forward in Cambodia’s continued efforts to recover, preserve, and restore its ancestral legacy for future generations.”
The artifacts were described as dating from the pre-Angkorian period through the height of the Angkor Empire, including “monumental sandstone sculptures, refined bronze works, and significant ritual objects.” The Angkor Empire, which extended from the ninth to the 15th century, is best known for the Angkor Wat archaeological site, the nation’s biggest tourist attraction.
Latchford was a prominent antiquities dealer who allegedly orchestrated an operation to sell looted Cambodian sculptures on the international market.
From 1970 to the 1980s, during Cambodia’s civil wars and the communist Khmer Rouge ‘s brutal reign, organized looting networks sent artifacts to Latchford, who then sold them to Western collectors, dealers, and institutions. These pieces were often physically damaged, having been pried off temple walls or other structures by the looters.
Latchford was indicted in a New York federal court in 2019 on charges including wire fraud and conspiracy. He died in 2020, aged 88, before he could be extradited to face charges.
Cambodia, like neighboring Thailand, has benefited from a trend in recent decades involving the repatriation of art and archaeological treasures. These include ancient Asian artworks as well as pieces lost or stolen during turmoil in places such as Syria, Iraq and Nazi-occupied Europe. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the prominent institutions that has been returning illegally smuggled art, including to Cambodia.
“The ancient artifacts created and preserved by our ancestors are now being returned to Cambodia, bringing warmth and joy, following the country’s return to peace,” said Hun Many, who is the younger brother of Prime Minister Hun Manet.
