Actor Akshay Kumar has earned plenty of plaudits for halting the shooting of his next film Housefull 4 after serious allegations of sexual harassment emerged against director Sajid Khan.
Akshay is being hailed for his bold step despite his friendship with Sajid Khan, with whom he has worked in several films together in the past.
Taking to Twitter, Akshay wrote, “I’ve just landed back in the country last night and reading all the news has been very disturbinf. I’ve requested the producers of Housefull 4 to cancel the shoot until further investigation. This is something that requires stringent action. 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.”
— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) October 12, 2018
This prompted director Sajid Khan to announce that he was stepping down as from his role as the director of the film. Sajid wrote, “In the wake of allegations against me and the presssure being put on my family, my producer and the stars of my film Houseful 4, I must take the moral responsibility of stepping down from my directorial post, till the time I can allay the allegations and prove the truth.”
Urging the media to not jump to conclusions, he added, ” I request my friends in the media to kindly not pass judgement till the truth is out.”
Elsewhere, Farhan Akhtar, Sajid’s friend, too expressed his shock on the revelation against the Housefull Director. He wrote, “I cannot adequately stress how shocked, disappointed and heartbroken I am to read the stories about Sajid’s behaviour. I don’t know how but he will have to find a way to atone for his alleged actions.”
Meanwhile, fans are hailing Akshay for not letting his friendship with Sajid in the way of his stand on what’s being termed as India’s own MeToo movement. One fan wrote, “We love you sir, morning I had expected this from you. Now your respect increases manifold.” Another commented, “As we expected from a person like u Akki…u keep our faith in u.”
An actress, known as Saloni Chopra, had levelled serious allegations of sexual misconduct and torture against Sajid in a long post, published on Medium website.