Queen actress Kangana Ranaut has alleged that filmmaker Vikas Bahl made her feel uncomfortable on several occasions, after a woman employee at Phantom Films reiterated her allegations of molestation against the film director.
Last year, the woman employee at Phantom Films, which had Vikas as one of the partners, along side Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Mantena, had alleged that that the filmmaker behaved inappropriately with her during a trip to Goa.
In a recent article in Huffpost India, the woman has reiterated the allegations, sharing further details about the incident.
According to the report, in October 2015, the woman reached out to Anurag Kashyap and detailed her experience, but no action was taken while Vikas Bahl continued to harass her until she finally quit the company.
After the article went viral, Kangana Ranaut also raised her voice against Vikas, who directed the actress in the film Queen.
"(I) Totally believe her, even though Vikas was married back in 2014 when we were filming Queen, he bragged about having casual sex with a new partner every other day. I don't judge people and their marriages but you can tell when addiction becomes sickness," Kangana said in a statement.
The actor said she was 'shamed' for not being cool enough by the director, who, Kangana says, was scared of her.
"But still every time we met, socially greeted and hugged each other, he'd bury his face in my neck, hold me really tight and breathe in the smell of my hair. It took me great amount of strength and effort to pull myself out of his embrace. He'd say 'I love how you smell K'. I could tell something is wrong with him," she added.
The Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi actress also said that though she believed the woman who levelled allegations against Vikas Bahl, it was sad that people were attacking him now "even though the woman asked for help long ago."
"That time the story was conveniently killed but I supported her at that time as well... I thought the movement would catch up but I was wrong," she said.
Kangana also claimed that Vikas had come to her with a script about a gold medalist from Haryana but stopped talking about the project as she supported the woman.
"I didn't mind losing out on a good script and I never called him either. I was determined to say what I felt was right but the matter was pushed under the carpet and I didn't hear any updates about the same. It's amusing after the news of Phantom dissolution, many are finding the courage to attack him.
"Shame on such a society, go look at yourselves in the mirror bunch of cowards. Attacking powerless men won't begin a movement. Lets not be opportunists. Selective outrage will only serve as entertainment, this will just be tabloid gossip and nothing else," she added.
Earlier on Saturday, the four partners of the Phantom Films announced to dissolve their joint banner, without citing the reason for this decision.
However, a source cited that the reason behind the dissolution is the major differences between the four, especially post the sexual harassment allegations against Vikas Bahl.
Founded in 2011, the banner has produced films like Lootera, Queen, Ugly, NH 10, Bombay Velvet, Masaan, Udta Punjab, Raman Raghav 2.0 and Trapped, among others.
Their last film as producers will be Hrithik Roshan-starrer Super 30. Directed by Vikas Bahl, the film is scheduled to release on January 25, 2019.
