Kangana Ranaut, who played the lead role in Vikas Bahl's Queen, has accused the director of sexually harassing on the sets of the 2014 film. During a recent interview with India Today, Kangana spoke up in support of the survivor who accused the director of sexual harassment (in a separate interview to Huffington Post India) and told India Today: "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. He partied every night and shamed me for sleeping early and not being cool enough."
During the interview, the 31-year-old actress recalled the times she met the director and said that he would "hold her really tight" and would "smell her hair." "But still every time we met, socially greeted and hugged each other, he'd bury his face in my neck, hold me really tight and breathe in the smell of my hair. It took me great amount of strength and effort to pull myself out of his embrace. He'd say 'I love how you smell K'. I could tell something is wrong with him," Kangana told India Today.
Kangana, revealed that she even lost out on a few projects after she decided to help the girl who accused Vikas Bahl. She told India Today: "At that time Vikas had come to me with a script about a gold medalist from Haryana. When I supported the girl, he stopped talking to me. I didn't mind losing out on a good script and I never called him either. I was determined to say what I felt was right. The matter was pushed under the carpet and I didn't hear any updates on the same."
"I could tell something is wrong with him. I believe this girl. But what is sad, is that now that Phantom has been dissolved, many are attacking him, even though the girl asked for help long ago. At that time, the story was conveniently killed, but I supported her at that time as well. You can see my media interaction during one of my brand endorsement interactions. I thought the #MeToo movement would catch up but I was wrong," Kangana told India Today.
Kangana's response came the same day when Anurag Kashyap announced the news that Phantom Films has been dissolved. Kangana added, "It's amusing that after the news of Phantom dissolution many are finding the courage to attack him. Shame on such a society. Go look at yourselves in the mirror, bunch of cowards, attacking powerless men won't begin a movement. Either we do it or we don't. Let's not be opportunists. If we are a shit society, let's accept it, at least have that much honesty within yourself. Selective outrage will only serve as entertainment, this will just be tabloid gossip and nothing else." According to a Huffington Post report, the dissolution of Phantom Fims (of which Vikas Bahl was a co-owner), could reportedly be attribute to the allegations against Vikas Bahl.
Kangana Ranaut's upcoming film Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi will clash with Vikas Bahl-directed Super 30, which is also Phantom Films' final project. Both the films are slated to release on January 25 next year.
