Further to the #MeToo movement that has seen a lot of women across industries including cinema talk about their experience of sexual assault, actor-producer Aamir Khan, in a statement on Wednesday, said that he is distancing himself from the Gulshan Kumar biopic Mogul owing to allegations of sexual misconduct against director Subhash Kapoor. The film was to be produced by Aamir Khan’s banner and T-Series.
Khan’s statement though, did not mention the project or name the person.
— Aamir Khan (@aamir_khan) October 10, 2018
Director Subhash Kapoor was accused of attempting to rape actress Geetika Tyagi in 2012. In 2014, Tyagi, who was part of the television series Powder, filed a case against Subhash Kapoor and also released a video in which she was slapping the director.
The episode surfaced recently when actress Geetika Tyagi, on Tuesday, tweeted to Mumbai Film Festival, which has Kiran Rao, Aamir Khan’s wife as one of its founders, and wondered if Rao remembers that her husband himself is working with Subash Kapoor who is being prosecuted for sexual assault and molestation.
Although @MumbaiFilmFest hs disassociated itslf frm directors&producer whose names have come out in #Metoo movement but I hope its chairperson #KiranRao remembers tht @aamir_khan her husband hmslf is working wth #subhashkapoor who’s being prosecuted for sexual assault&molestation
— Geetika Tyagi (@TyagiGeetika) October 9, 2018
Meanwhile Kapoor, talking to Indian Express, said: “I understand and respect Aamir Khan’s and Kiran Rao’s decision. Since matter is subjudice, I intend to prove my innocence in the court of law. But I do want to raise a question – is secretly filming a crying woman without her consent and knowledge and uploading it on social media not harassment or abuse? Or is it fine if she is related to someone who is “accused” of a misconduct. If your answer is latter then for me it’s nothing less than a khaap panchayat mentality.”
Reacting to the allegations, T-Series head Bhushan Kumar said: “It is our foremost duty to make our industry safe for everyone, make an industry that creates environment of equality and a better place to work. With the on-going proceedings against the director that have been brought to our notice, everyone at T-Series has decided to not work with the director.”
