Vikas Bahl slaps legal notices on Anurag & Vikramaditya, tags them as ‘opportunists’

Tainted director Vikas Bahl, who has been accused of sexual harassment, has sent a legal notice to his former partners of the now dissolved Phantom Films, Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motawane. In the notice, Bahl has accused Kashyap and Motawane of maligning his image by giving statements against him on social media. He also demanded an ‘unconditional apology’ and withdrawal of messages posted on micro-blogging website Twitter. In their tweets, Kashyap and Motawane issued statements over sexual harassment allegations levelled against the ‘Queen’ director and stated that they were deeply sorry for not handling the incident properly when required. They also mentioned that it was the victim’s choice to not speak about the incident. In separate notices, Bahl has accused the directors of reacting without knowing the truth. Tagging them as ‘opportunists’, the legal notice read, “You are neither a witness nor the alleged victim, but instead an opportunist seeking to derive benefit based on unsubstantiated information. The alleged incident has not been established in any court of law and that you have exploited the media to propagate your own personal vendetta.” The said incident pertains to alleged sexual harassment of a woman employee of the now dissolved Phantom Films by Bahl. The woman came forward and narrated her experience with Bahl in a series of interviews with a publication. As per her account, the incident took place in 2015, during a promotional tour for the movie ‘Bombay Velvet’. The woman also tried reaching out to Kashyap to speak about the incident. However, she said nothing came out of it and the issue wasn't taken seriously till two years later. ‘Queen’ protagonist Kangana Ranaut also backed the woman’s claims and gave her own account of how Bahl misbehaved with her on the film’s sets.