New Delhi: Bollywood photographer and filmmaker Atul Kasbekar, the latest celebrity from the industry to face charges of harassment of women, has dismissed allegations made in an anonymous post on the social media.
In a statement on Twitter in response to the allegation based on an anonymous tweet from a newly-created ID on the micro-blogging platform, Ellipsis Entertainment, co owned by Atul Kasbekar said,“we have not received any complaint of inappropriate behaviour by director Soumik Sen from any female member in our unit of Cheat India during the shooting.”
“While we support the #MeToo movement in India, we urge for people to be wary of unsubstantiated allegations, particularly anonymous ones, which could be mischievously made with ulterior motives. We also hope that these do not dilute the credibility of the ongoing movement,” the statement, signed by Atul Kasbekar, Tanuj Garg, Shanti Sivaram, Swati Iyer and Piya Sawhney, said.
In this regard, they said that the banner has produced films like Neerja and Tumhari Sulu, renowned for their female protagonists which have been beacons for women empowerment.
“Infact, we are working on two features toplined by strong female characters. A disproportionate percentage of our workforce is female in all our allied organisations,” they said.
The statement came in response to a post by an anonymous woman, a female actor of the upcoming film Cheat India, accused director Soumik Sen and producer Atul Kasbekar of “harassing women with their powerplay”.
“He (Sen) would narrate unnatural sex scenes and would suggest how we would be apt to play part, all in the presence of Atul Kasbekar, who would be flaunting a huge grin on his face. He would also read out erotic poems between scenes. One such encounter had me losing (sic) my cool and asking Soumik to back off, I was sternly warned that if I fuss about such things I would be thrown out of Cheat India.
Producer Atul Kasbekar, who was also a part of the discussion, chose to keep silent and took no action even when I displayed my discomfort. The film has wrapped and I have sworn to never work with Soumik Sen or Atul Kasbekar ever again. They are sleazebags who harass women with their power play,” the post said.
The organization said they will soon file a complaint with the cyber cell to look into the matter
“A website ran an allegation this morning on the basis of an anonymous tweet from a newly created ID. As of this morning the twitter handle had zero followers. We will soon file a complaint with the cyber cell to look into the matter,” the statement said. (UNI)
