Mumbai, June 1: Vikas Bahl, who was accused of sexual harassment by an employee of Phantom Films, has been cleared of all charges following an internal inquiry by Reliance Entertainment. According to a report in Mumbai Mirror, Vikas Bahl has been reinstated as the director of Super 30, and will now be given the credit in Hrithik Roshan-starrer.
Reliance Entertainment, which had 50 per cent stake in Phantom Films, has given a clean chit to the filmmaker in the sexual misconduct charges.
The report suggests this will enable Vikas’s return to Super 30 as director, and his name will be incorporated in the credit when the trailer of the film is released next week.
Shibasish Sarkar, Group CEO, Reliance Entertainment, confirmed the news to the daily, saying, “Yes, it is that the internal complaints committee report has exonerated Vikas Bahl. With ICC clearing Vikas Bahl’s name, we don’t have a choice but to reinstate his credit as director of Super 30.”
It further reports that internal complaints committee probed allegations with due dilligence. “Despite repeated reminders, the complainant did not appear before the committee,” a source told the daily.
It was in October 2018 that a woman crew member of Phantom Films had accused Vikas Bahl of sexual misconduct. She had alleged that the Queen director had sexually harassed her during the promotional tour of the film, Bombay Velvet in 2015.
After the public furore, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Mantena announced the dissolution of Phantom Films.
When many questioned Anurag for not standing up for the woman, the filmmaker issued a long statement claiming that his company had cut all ties with Vikas Bahl after the incident. He added that he named and shamed Bahl for his indecent behaviour and also issued an apology to the woman crew member.
In the wake of the #MeToo movement in India, Hrithik had tweeted that he would not want to be associated with a person if he/she is guilty of such grave misconduct, and had requested the producers to take stock of the facts and take a stand.
Soon, Vikas Bahl was removed as the director of Super 30. But with the latest turn of events, Vikas is returning as the director of Hrithik’s upcoming film.
