Action director Sham Kaushal, father of actor Vicky Kaushal, has issued an 'unconditional' apology after being accused of sexual harassment, qualifying his apology by specifying that any 'hurt or anguish' he might have caused had been 'unintentional.' In a note he posted on his unverified Twitter account, Mr Kaushal wrote: "Ever since I have been working in this industry I have tried my best to be a good human being professionally and personally, never wishing to hurt or disrespect anyone. I have read the allegations made against me by some crew members. If I have unintentionally caused any hurt or anguish, I unconditionally apologise to the ladies, to the production houses and each and every member of the film fraternity."
— Sham kaushal (@ShamKaushal) October 15, 2018
Sham Kaushal is accused of having asked a female assistant director to his room for drinks while on an outdoor film shoot in 2006 and then pestering her after she declined. He also allegedly showed her pornographic material on his phone.
Mr Kaushal's film credits include Dangal, starring Aamir Khan, and filmmaker Anurag Kashyap's Gangs Of Wasseypur - both Mr Khan and Mr Kashyap have taken public stands against film fraternity members accused of sexual misconduct.
Sham Kaushal is the latest in a series of film industry insiders to be outed on social media as alleged predators. The names implicated in India's #MeToo movement have so far included Nana Patekar, Alok Nath, Subhash Ghai, Sajid Khan and others. Both Nana Patekar and Sajid Khan have exited work-in-progress Housefull 4, in which they were acting and directing respectively. Filming has been suspended, Housefull 4 star Akshay Kumar announced last Friday.
