Vikas Bahl has reportedly been dropped from an Amazon Prime-financed web series. The director, who is facing serious sexual assault allegations, is said to have been dropped from the show recently.
A spokesperson for Amazon Prime chose not to comment on the controversy surrounding Bahl. He also did not confirm or deny the rumour that Bahl has been dropped from directing a series that was said to be a reboot of a popular Australian serial.
The producers of the series, Raghu Ram and Rajiv Laxmanan, best known for MTV show Roadies, told HuffPost that any such announcement would come directly from Amazon.
The show was announced earlier this year, with Raghu Ram and Rajiv Laxmanan’s Monozygotic Productions serving as the producer.
There are also rumours that Bahl will be kept out of the promotions for his upcoming film, Super 30. The project has Hrithik Roshan in the lead role and is a biopic on mathematician Anand Kumar. Producer Sajid Nadiadwala’s assistant said that an official statement on the issue is expected soon. But till then the production house has no comment to offer.
Hrithik Roshan too has not remarked on the allegations. He is believed to have told a publication that he will comment on the issue later.
Vikas Bahl, a co-founder of the now defunct Phantom Films, was accused of sexual assault by a former employee of the production house. Bahl is said to have passed out in the room of the survivor after a party celebrating the impending release of Bombay Velvet. He later performed a sex act in the survivor’s vicinity. Though she confessed about the incident to Anurag Kashyap later that year, no action was taken against Bahl. The survivor quit after she was assigned to work on a project with Bahl.
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It was only in 2017 that the incident became public, following which Bahl is said to have been barred from the premises of Phantom Films.
Actor Kangana Ranaut, who worked with the director in Queen, also spoke out about her own experience with the director. She said that Bahl behaved inappropriately with her and bragged many times about his extra marital affairs.
Anurag Kashyap has reacted to the allegations against Bahl and has apologised to the survivor for not doing enough to make sure that Bahl was punished. Another co-founder of Phantom Films, Vikramaditya Motwane, has also come out with a statement in support of the survivor.