The Indian film industry is in the midst of a huge controversy as more women have accused famous film stars of sexual harassment and rape. The #MeToo movement in Bollywood is gaining momentum as women are finally challenging male domination in the popular entertainment industry.
In recent days other Bollywood figures, a comedian, a best-selling author and top journalists have all found themselves accused of abusing their positions to behave improperly towards women.As the movement gathers more steam, females in the industry are coming forward exposing more prominent names. Here are the Indian celebs who have been accused as part of the #MeToo campaign in India:
1. Varun Grover
Award-winning lyricist and writer Varun Grover was called out by a former student of Banaras Hindu University for misbehaving with her in 2001 on the pretext of working on a play.Varun has denied the allegations with a tweet today.
2. Alok Nath
Vinta Nanda, a veteran writer-producer of the avant-garde 1990s' show "Tara" fame, has accused actor Alok Nath -- known for his "sanskaari" on-screen image -- of sexually violating her almost two decades ago.
It is the escalating voices against sexual harassment across the world as part of the #MeToo wave that gave Nanda the courage to pen down the experiences which had left her "shattered".
"He was an alcoholic, shameless and obnoxious but he was also the television star of that decade, so not only was he forgiven for all his bad behaviour, many of the guys would also egg him on to be his worst," Nanda wrote, adding that he even harassed the show's lead actress who was not interested in him..
Alok Nath responded to the allegations saying, "I am neither denying nor admitting to this. It (rape) must have happened, but the culprit must be somebody else. I do not want to talk much about it because that would mean stretching the issue."
3. Gaurang Doshi
Bollywood actress Flora Saini, who played the role of the ghost in the recently released Stree with Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor in the lead, has come forward to share her story of assault and harassment at the hands of producer Gaurang Doshi.
Sharing the ordeal on Facebook, she saluted the survivors of sexual harassment for coming forward and sharing their stories.
She then went on to share about the abuse she suffered at the hands of known producer Gaurang Doshi. She was dating the producer but called it quits when she fractured a jaw in an assault in 2007.
She then went on to share about the abuse she suffered at the hands of known producer Gaurang Doshi. She was dating the producer but called it quits when she fractured a jaw in an assault in 2007.
Explaining why she didn't complain about it earlier, she says, "I realised me talking about it ,that time, just went against me ,cos he was the powerful one n nobody wanted to believe some girl who was relatively new in the industry, it was his word against mine ,and of course, his word mattered.
4. Nana Patekar
It all started with Tanushree Dutta talking about actor Nana Patekar's inappropriate behaviour on the film set of Horn Ok Pleasss 10 years ago.
Today, the actor who has consistently denied the accusation, canceled the press conference he had planned to address the sexual harassment allegation leveled against him. The media was informed about the cancellation by Nana's son Malhar.
5. Vivek Agnihotri
Dutta also alleged that filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri behaved inappropriately towards her while shooting a 2005 movie. Agnihotri's lawyer denied the "frivolous" claims.
6. Vikas Bahl
Kangana Ranaut, an actress who worked with Bahl on "Queen", his 2014 hit film touching on female empowerment, came out and said that the director would "bury his face in my neck and hold me really tight".
Vikas was accused of sexual misconduct at a 2015 Phantom Films party in Goa. Over the weekend, it was announced that Phantom Films, co-owned by Vikas Bahl along with Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Mantena, had been dissolved over allegations against Bahl.
7. Utsav Chakraborty
A Mumbai comedian, Utsav Chakraborty, last week found himself at the centre of a Twitter storm accusing him of sending lewd messages to women and young girls such as requesting topless photos.
After an initial dismissal, Chakraborty, who now faces a possible police investigation, tweeted that he has "been the exact monster I've been trying to fight all my life".
8. Chetan Bhagat
Chetan Bhagat, one of India's top-selling authors, got himself embroiled in the movement when a woman shared screenshots of WhatsApp conversations between them. The author then went on to issue an apology on Facebook.
9. Rajat Kapoor
Actor Rajat Kapoor has been called out for alleged sexual harassment on Twitter with two women accusing him of inappropriate behaviour.
One journalist shared details of a telephonic interview in which Mr Kapoor allegedly asked her if she was "As sexy as she sounds" and "tell me your vital stats."
Rajat posted an apology on Twitter saying, "On Twitter, Rajat Kapoor posted this: "All my life I have tried to be a decent man, to do the right thing. If however, I have slipped and through my actions or words caused pain or hurt or trauma to absolutely anybody, please accept my apology. I am sorry from the bottom of my heart - and sad that I was the cause of this hurt to another human being. If there is one thing more important to me than even my work, it is to be a good human being. And I have tried to be that person. And now, I will try harder."
The #MeToo movement has taken down some of the most revered personalities belonging to various fields in the neighbouring India, including TV bigwig Alok Nath.
In a shocking turn of events under the issue, a crew-member of 1990s movie ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’, in which Alok Nath starred as the family’s patriarch, has come out stating that the actor sexually harassed her during the shoot of the film.
On condition of anonymity, the crew-member shared her ordeal stating that the incident occurred when they were shooting for a night scene and she had taken charge of the costumes’ department.
Alok Nath had to change his clothes. Once the woman handed him his clothes Alok Nath started stripping in front of her, she said.
She remember being caught off-guard and making her way out of the room. As soon as Alok saw she’s leaving, he grabbed her hand and manhandled her allegedly.
The woman added that she then remembers yanking her hand out of his hold and rushing out of the room.
She adde that she couldn’t at that time approach Sooraj Barjatya, the producer/director of the film as she was extremely shocked and couldn’t speak up because Alok Nath was very close to the Barjatyas.
Allegations of sexual assault against Alok Nath started surfacing after filmmaker and writer Vinta Nanda on Monday alleged him of rape and harassment.
The latest Bollywood personality to be accused of sexual misconduct is singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya.
A former flight attendant has accused him of sexually harassing her at a Kolkata pub in 1998; she shared that Abhijeet grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer after she already refused to dance with him.
She further added that her saying no angered him and he screamed in her ear, “B***h, what do you think of yourself, wait till I teach you a lesson,” before almost kissing and nibbling her ear.Bhattacharya has denied the allegations in a statement to DNA India,stating "I’ve never visited a discotheque or a pub in my life, so she is blatant lying" before, according to the publication, proceeding to abuse the woman.
It gets worse; in an interview with Indian Express, he said that most of the people coming forward right now want publicity and "are dirty ugly people."
"I have never gone to pubs in my life. You’ll never find me at any page 3 or filmy parties. My name sells. If someone’s benefiting from it, good. Sometimes earning their bread and butter with my name, it’s fine,” he added.
"Koi mota hai, koi patla hai. No one deserves (the attention). Just to grab some attention they are coming out. Most of the fat and ugly girls are blaming and I wasn’t born at that time. I don’t know against whom should I take action. Why should I give attention to that person? You are giving it importance, not me."
For the uninitiated, this isn't the first time Bhattacharya has been violent towards a woman; he has gotten into trouble multiple times for abusing women and in 2015, the Indian police had booked the singer for allegedly molesting a 34-year-old woman.
