Actor Sushant Singh Rajput has dismissed reports on social media that he made his co-star uncomfortable on the sets of a film as a "well-timed and agenda-driven smear campaign". Reports of the actor "flirting" with newcomer Sanjana Sanghi (co-star of Kizie Aur Manny) and making her "uncomfortable while filming" appeared on social media recently. It was also reported that Ms Sanghi's parents had to intervene after director Mukesh Chhabra (currently suspended from the post) did not take a stand. On Friday, the 32-year-old actor shared screenshots of his conversations with Ms Sanghi (from their first to the last day on the sets) on Twitter and Instagram to make his case and left it to the Internet to decide on whether he was being falsely blamed.
He wrote: "I feel sad to reveal personal information but it seems that there is no other way to state what actually happened, in the midst of this curated, well-timed and agenda driven smear campaign. From the first day of the shoot till the last day, this is what happened on the sets with Sanjana. Misconduct? Not at all. Agenda? You decide." So far, Sanjana Sanghi, who has a verified Instagram profile, hasn't released a statement.
Mukesh Chhabra has tweeted in support of Sushant Singh Rajput and suggested "somebody else's ulterior motive" behind the reports. "I totally stand by Sushant Singh Rajput - no such incident happened on the sets and let's not have a Twitter trial and make an innocent person suffer for somebody else's ulterior motives I had clarified this on twitter long back and I still maintain it," Mr Chhabra tweeted late on Thursday night.
I totally stand by @itsSSR - no such incident happened on the sets and let's not have a Twitter trial and make an innocent person suffer for somebody else's ulterior motives I had clarified this on twitter long back and I still maintain it . https://t.co/aIzoEq0Xrj
— Mukesh Chhabra CSA (@CastingChhabra) October 18, 2018
Meanwhile, Mukesh Chabbra has been suspended from the post of director Kizie Aur Manny after he was named and shamed by two anonymous aspiring actresses in their #MeToo stories. Producers Fox Star Hindi on Friday issued a statement saying: "As a responsible organisation, Star India takes any allegation of sexual harassment of women at workplace very seriously hence Fox Star Studios has suspended the services of Mukesh Chhabra, director of our film Kizie Aur Manny, which is under production, till the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of Mukesh Chhabra Casting Company concludes its inquiry into the allegations against him."
— Fox Star Hindi (@foxstarhindi) October 19, 2018
In the on-going #MeToo movement in India, celebrities such as Alok Nath, Vikas Bahl and Nana Patekar have been called out for sexual harassment. Several members of the film industry (like lyricist writer Varun Grover) have also said that they've been falsely accused.
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