Within hours of a former employee of Phantom Films had alleged sexual harassment against filmmaker Vikas Bahl, Kangana Ranaut too had accused the Queen director of behaving inappropriately with her during a trip to Goa.
Kangana was the lead actor in Queen. Kangana had also gone on to add that she had believed the woman when she was allegedly sexually attacked by Bahl but hoped that the movement will catch up. Saying that she had supported Bahl’s alleged victim, Kangana said that Bahl denied her a role in his next project, which was about a Gold medalist athlete from Haryana, because of her support to the woman.
She was quoted by PTI, “(I) Totally believe her, even though Vikas was married back in 2014 when we were filming Queen, he bragged about having casual sex with a new partner every other day. I don’t judge people and their marriages but you can tell when addiction becomes sickness.”
On Friday, Bahl’s ex-wife Richa Dubey called out Kangana’s hypocrisy in a long social media post. Dubey wrote, “This is going beyond boundaries and tolerance level now this is not a #MeToo but a meme. I want to ask all the women if a man makes you uncomfortable and touches you inappropriately would you have a good friendship with that man?”
Dubey asked, “would you not cut ties with that man and make your interaction minimum with that person? Or would you still giggle and go out wining and dining with that person or because you want to work with that man because he is good at his work….
“You are willing to bypass this? Especially when you are strong, fearless and a gutsy person… I don’t understand this at all.”
Dubey also asked if Bahl had already tried to touch her inappropriately in the past and she was so peeved about it, why did she agree to perform together with Vikas an “item number” at Madhu Mantena (co-founder of now dissolved Phantom Films) and Masaba Gupta’s wedding in 2015. Dubey also informed that Kangana has till date been sharing “extremely friendly messages” with Bahl.
This is gone beyond tolerance now ! Do not misuse #metoo #fairchance #vikasbahl pic.twitter.com/YfMFlOOaPu
— richa dubey (@richviks) October 12, 2018
Reacting to Dubey’s post, Kangana launched a personal attack against her questioning the motive behind her divorce with Bahl. She told a channel, “Another ex-wife for her ex-husband’s rescue. My only question is, why do they leave their holier-than-thou husbands in the first place? Stop this bullshit that we had a friendly divorce, perfectly amicable, and we are a family. You don’t wake up one fine morning and divorce a godly man, so please help us secure our work environment and make sure these men don’t spoil more lives.”
This personal and below-the-belt attack by Kangana did not go down well with many including actor-model Gauhar Khan, who slammed her. Gauhar wrote, “I’m calling you out on your double standards on being a self proclaimed voice for women’s rights and feminism $Kanganaranaut. Your voice is shrill and your views convenient. The loopholes in your claim are very clear and you attacking a woman’s marital status shows how much you feel for womanhood. And just to point out, the only criteria to marry a man is never because he is a god, neither should that be a reason to divorce him, should he not be one. The word ANOTHER in your ex wife claim is evident enough of what ur real agenda is! So you are not the voice strong women need! Strong women rebuild each other and respect different views. They don’t bracket other women to suit themselves.”