The year 2020 has been a whirlwind of events with one thing happening after another. We’ve barely caught a break from the Coronavirus pandemic and now another shocking event has come to light. Bollywood actor Payal Ghosh has accused Bollywood filmmaker Anurag Kashyap of sexual assault and now, the 48-year-old director and producer has dismissed the allegations in a series of late-night tweets, saying this is “an attempt to silence me”.
Payal Ghosh made her Bollywood debut in 2017 and over the weekend alleged that Mr Kashyap “had forced himself on me”. She also made an appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help her.
“@anuragkashyap72 has forced himself on me and extremely badly. @PMOIndia @narendramodi ji, kindly take action and let the country see the demon behind this creative guy. I am aware that it can harm me and my security is at risk. Pls help! (sic),” her tweet read. Responding to the post, National Commission of Women chief Rekha Sharma wrote: “You may send me the detailed complaint at chairperson-ncw@nic.in and @NCWIndia will look into it.”
@anuragkashyap72 has forced himself on me and extremely badly. @PMOIndia @narendramodi ji, kindly take action and let the country see the demon behind this creative guy. I am aware that it can harm me and my security is at risk. Pls help! https://t.co/1q6BYsZpyx
— Payal Ghosh (@iampayalghosh) September 19, 2020
Anurag Kashyap, a bigwig in the industry, is known for directing and producing many critically acclaimed movies such as ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ and ‘Queen’. He too took to Twitter and responded to the claims, saying, “It took you so long to make an attempt to silence me. Never mind… in a bid to silence me, you have dragged another woman in this, despite being a woman. Please stick to the limits, Madame. All I want to say is all allegations are baseless.”
He went on in his tweets to say, “Whether it’s my first wife or second, or a girlfriend… or all those actresses who worked with me… or all those female colleagues who have been working with me… I don’t indulge in such behaviour in public or otherwise. neither do I tolerate such behaviour.” Penning his tweets in Hindi, he continued, “Rest, whatever happens… let’s see. In the video, you can figure how true the allegations are… otherwise, just love and good wishes for you. Apologies for replying to you in Hindi for your accusations in English.”
To conclude his statement he said, “I am anticipating more accusations… This is just the beginning. Have received many calls that have told me- ‘don’t speak, stay silent’. I also know the source of the attack. Waiting for it,” Anurag Kashyap said in another cryptic tweet.
A Telugu news channel also released a video in which Ghosh claimed that the incident took place between 2014 and 2015. The actor, who made her Bollywood debut with Rishi Kapoor-Paresh Rawal starrer Patel Ki Punjabi Shaadi, also claimed that Mr Kashyap “boasted about his connection with megastar Amitabh Bachchan and claimed that there were other female artistes who he got intimate with”.
