Actor Aamir Khan, who had recently avoided commenting on Tanushree Dutta’s allegations of sexual harassment, has thrown his weight behind India’s own MeToo movement. On Wednesday, the Bollywood megastar announced that he was stepping away from a film, as ‘someone’ associated with it had been accused of sexual misconduct.
While posting a long statement on Twitter, Aamir wrote, “Two weeks ago, when traumatic #MeToo stories began emerging, it was brought to our attention that someone we were about to begin work with has been accused of sexual misconduct. Upon enquiry we found that this particular case is sub judice, and that the legal process is in motion.
“We are not an investigative agency, nor are we in any position to pass judgment on anyone — that is for the police and judiciary to do. So, without casting any aspersions on anyone involved in this case, and without coming to any conclusions about these specific allegations, we have decided to step away from this film.”
The statement was signed by both Aamir and his wife Kiran Rao.
— Aamir Khan (@aamir_khan) October 10, 2018
Aamir’s next film will be Thugs of Hindostan and there were reports that the Dangal star will co-produce his next film, a biopic of Gulshan Kumar of T-Series. Even though Aamir did not name the person or the film, filmmaker Subhash Kapoor, who was roped in to direct the Gulshan Kumar biopic, Mogul, has been accused of molestation by an actress in 2014.
Aamir and Kiran that as creative people, they have been committed to foregrounding and finding solutions to social issues.
“At Aamir Khan Productions, we have always had a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual misconduct and predatory behaviour of any kind.
“We strongly condemn any act of sexual harassment, and equally we condemn any and all false accusations in such cases,” the joint statement read.
The statement went on to read, “For far too long, women have faced the brunt of sexual exploitation. It has to stop. In this regard, we are committed to doing any and everything to make our film industry a safe and happy one to work in.”
Kiran is also the Chairperson of Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, which has dropped two movies — Rajat Kapoor’s Kadakh and AIB’s Chintu Ka Birthday — from its line-up in the wake of sexual harassment allegations against the actor-filmmaker and some members of the comedy collective, reported IANS.