Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has denied all sexual assault allegations levelled against him by actress Payal Ghosh, saying the charges are baseless. “Wow, it took so long in the 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,” Kashyap tweeted in Hindi.
Payal took to her verified Twitter account to open up against Kashyap on Saturday evening. She
tagged the office of the Prime Minister of India in her tweet. “@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!,” tweeted Payal.
Following her claim, Anurag posted a series of tweets to refute the allegations. “In the process of accusing me, you tried to drag my artistes and the Bachchan family but failed. Madam, I have been married twice, if that’s my crime then I accept it, and have loved a lot, I accept that too. Whether
it was my first wife or the second, or any other lover, or the many actresses I have worked with, or that team of girls and women who have always been working with me, or the many women who I met in private or in public. There will be many more attacks. This is just the start. I have received many calls
asking me to shut up and not say a word. I am aware that I have no clue yet where all the attacks are going to come from. I am waiting,” he wrote.
Taapsee took to her Instagram account and called Kashyap one of the “biggest” feminists. “For you, my
friend, are the biggest feminist I know. See you on the sets soon of yet another piece of art that shows
how powerful and significant women are in the world you create.”
Taapsee, who worked with Kashyap in ‹Manmarziyaan›, wrote. “It is the joint responsibility of women and men both to carefully protect the sanctity of #Metooindia … It is a very very very important
movement that should not be misused for any other reason but the dignity of women,» filmmaker Anubhav Sinha wrote on Twitter while tagging Kashyap.
Filmmaker Hansal Mehta also came forward to support Kashyap through a string of tweets. “I take accusations of sexual harassment seriously and when I heard this young woman accuse Anurag I was extremely disturbed. He is a friend, like a younger sibling and somebody who has been with me through some rough times. He can be brash. He can be stupid.” Mehta said that he refuse to believe that Kashyap can be a “sexual harasser”. “As I write this I’m pained, troubled and full of questions. For one the timing of leveling these accusations. Then the tagging of our PM. This happening at a time when Anurag often against advice has been outspoken and provided a contrarian view on things happening around us. Is he making some people uncomfortable? There are so many questions and they are not necessarily about
the allegations leveled against AK,” he added. Mehta went on to question if “this a witch-hunt yet again? Are they trying to shut up an artist with a dissenting opinion? Where are we headed?
Actress Surveen Chawla, who worked with the filmmaker on the web series ‘Sacred Games’, termed the
claims bizarre. She wrote: “Let them creep.. Let them crawl.. You my friend… As always stand tall… These false flag bearers of feminism…. Opportunism? They dont honour men like u, for their lack of knowledge in knowing know who you really are, And claims they make that are just so bizarre. Your life,
your work and the women u create with ur craft… speak volumes about u. I have the privilege to know the real feminist in you, I take the honour my friend to stand for you.”