#Metoo Movement: Meet Bollywood Sexual Predators

It all started in America for the first time in response to the accusations of sexual harassment and abuse by powerful men in the entertainment industry and eventually the tractions of it rose up in india in the month of October,2018 when Tanushree Dutta came up with her accusation against renowned actor Nana Patekar of a sexual assault ; this just acted as a catalyst for the #Metoo movement.

And after this women from all walks of life shared their harassment experiences or inappropriate behavior at the hands of prominent Indian men.

The ongoing public naming and shaming have revolved around incidents ranging from lewd behavior, suggestive text messages and, in some cases, clear instances of sexual abuse.

Here’s a list of all the men from Bollywood who have been accused of sexually predatory behavior:-

Nana Patekar:

Bollywood actor Tanushree Dutta was one of the first people to come out with her story in the current wave of the #MeToo movement, how she was allegedly subjected to sexual harassment by actor Nana Patekar a decade ago during the shoot of a song she was supposed to perform in the film Horn Ok Pleassss in 2008.

In return to this Nana Patekar has brushed off all such allegations and has served a legal notice to Tanushree Dutta demanding a public apology.

Sajid Khan:

Model-actor Saloni Chopra recounted months of alleged sexual harassment and abuse she suffered at the hands of filmmaker Sajid Khan, under whom she worked as an assistant.

She claimed that the filmmaker would call her incessantly and at odd times, asked her inappropriate questions, and tried to make her touch his penis on the pretext of telling her that she was not sexy enough to be an actor as she did not arouse him.

Apart from Saloni, two other women – a journalist named Karishma Upadhyay and another actor Rachel W hite – have made allegations of sexual assault and misconduct against Sajid.

While the filmmaker did not comment on the allegations, his sister director-producer-choreographer Farah Khan tweeted that if her brother was indeed guilty of such behaviour, he had a lot to atone for; and she also expressed solidarity with the survivors.

Actor Akshay Kumar tweeted“I will not work with any proven offenders and all those who have been subjugated to harassment should be heard and given the justice they deserve,” regarding this.

Sajid khan had to drop his film Housefull4 along with Nana Paterkar after the said scenario.

Subhash Ghai:

Filmmaker Subhash Ghai has been accused in an anonymous tweet by a woman of forcefully kissing her during a scripting session and on another occasion, he allegedly spiked her drink, took her to a hotel in Lonavala and raped her. She was compelled to go to work with him despite this because she was told she would not be paid unless she completed the month.

Subhash has denied the allegations and went on the extent of threatening to sue the women. He also took his twitter handle to convey a message “Destiny shows u good times bad times-I m deeply pained 2b gripped in this movement but thank those who know me n my respect I shower to women n their dignity in spite of our cosmetic world we live n react more thru our love affection n respect Now seen in different perspectives”.

— Subhash Ghai (@SubhashGhai1) October 12, 2018

Kailash Kher:

Multiple women among a journalist from muscat, a fan along with singer Sona Mohapatra have accused Kailash of sexual harassment and misconduct.

Kailash denied the accusations by saying that he does not recall the incidents mentioned ; but in case anyone has taken something differently about anything, then he is apologetic for the same.

Anu Malik:

Sona Mohapatra also named singer-composer Anu Malik of being a sexual harasser.

She said she met him in 2006. When she, her husband Ram Sampath and Anu went for a meal, Anu allegedly commented on Sona saying, “Kya maal hai Sampath!” Thereafter Anu allegedly called Sona at odd hours, which Sona eventually stopped answering altogether.

Anu Malik refused that he has not ever meet the singer or contacted her.Later Anu left with famous INDIAN IDOL singing show, where he is a judge for the last many years.

Alok Nath:

Veteran actor Alok Nath is known for his sanskaari onscreen image in Indian cinema has been accused of sexual assault as well as harassment by two women. The first was producer-writer Vinta Nanda, who accused Alok of raping her 19 years ago. He allegedly repeated the act once again when the duo had to work together on a show later.

After Vinta came out with her story, actor Sandhya Mridul and Deepika Amin also accused Alok of sexual harassment which took a toll on her health and career. Alok’s response to the whole thing has been dismissive, at best.
Alok’s wife, Ashu, has now moved court and filed a complaint against Vinta for defamation.

Rajat Kapoor:

Three women, including one journalist, has accused the actor-director Rajat of sexual misconduct, harassment and assault.

Rajat Kapoor issued an apology on Twitter. He said he had tried to be a “decent man” throughout his life, and that “if” his actions had caused someone hurt or trauma, to accept his apology. “I am sorry from the bottom of my heart – and sad that I was the cause of this hurt,” he said.

Also, following the allegations, his film Kadakh was dropped from the line up of the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image’s (MAMI) upcoming film festival.

Vikas Bahl:

Filmmaker Vikas Bahl of the Kangana Ranaut-starrer Queen fame was outed for a sexual assault by Sonali Chopra, who outed Sajid Khan in a details blog, also wrote about facing sexism from Vikas, while working for Phantom Films.

Vikas Bahl, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Santena, went through after she was allegedly sexually assault.

Anurag Kashyap also confirmed that the survivor had told him about it. Later, Anurag announced that Phantom Films had disbanded and the founders were headed their separate ways. He also stepped down from the position of a board member from MAMI.

Varun Grover:

Writer-lyricist Varun Grover, who recently earned praise/fame for his writing in Netflix’s hit series Sacred Games, was accused of sexual harassment by a woman who was allegedly his junior in BHU in 2001.

In return, the lyricist has issued a detailed and lengthy statement calling the accusation as pointless.

The #Metoo movement spiked online and Social media has provided a platform where women can speak out to name the perpetrators, and find a community, and solidarity, with other survivors.

But the real motivation to all the women was the accusations of 9 women against once a powerful figure in journalism and a government minister M.J.Akhbar resulting his resignation.

In the year 2013, India enacted a law to prevent sexual harassment at work but the law existed on paper and its enforcement lagged. But this #meetoo movement created the kind of awareness that was a must since long.

India’s stigma around sexual violence contributes to a culture of silence. Many women could also be risking their livelihoods if they speak out; because just the thought of the consequences might have silenced many.

The government sprung into action right after all this mess and formed a panel; which in turn is expected to review lacunae in the laws on sexual harassment.

It is understood that it takes immense courage and bravery to come up with something like #metoo and right from celebrities to the aam aadmi everybody has been supportive to the victims and keen on getting the culprits scrutinized. A lot has been going around with people getting fired, resignations, defamation cases being filed in return.

But if we think about it at a very basic aspect, it’s the basic respect that we are missing.

We definately won’t like something of this sort to happen with our beloveds. Amending laws, talking on social media about how heinous act it is, and cursing those who has done so is all good; infact great.

But if we really want to be a man in actual senses, we got to accept women, their identity and consent.