#MeToo Charges Against Queen Director Vikas Bahl Dropped, Will Be Credited for Super 30

At a time when the #MeToo movement was at its peak in Bollywood, Queen director Vikash Bahl was accused of sexual harassment by an employee of Phantom Films. The charges led to the dissolution of the production house which was a joint venture among Vikas, Vikramaditya Motwane, Anurag Kashyap and Madhu Mantena.

In the wake of the charges, it was also reported that Vikas won't be credited as the director of the Hrithik Roshan starrer Super 30. But now, an internal inquiry by Reliance Entertainment, which held a 50% stake in Phantom, has cleared Vikas of all charges and given him a clean chit, reported Mumbai Mirror.

The clean chit will enable Vikas to return to Super 30 and his name will be incorporated in the credits when the film's trailer releases next week. Vikas had already filed defamation suits against fellow directors Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane for commenting in the media on his alleged wrongdoings.

Read: Vikas Bahl Sues ex-Partners Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane Over 'Defamatory' Tweets

In an official statement, Shibasish Sarkar, Group CEO, Reliance Entertainment, confirmed, "Yes, it is that the internal complaints committee report has exonerated Vikas Bahl. With ICC clearing Vikas Bahl's name, we don't have a choice but to reinstate his credit as director of Super 30."

After the allegations came to light in 2017, Vikas had said that the woman was not an employee of his company but a friend, and that they had collaborated on a project. Mumbai Mirror quoted a source which said that despite repeated reminders, "the complainant did not appear before the committee. Those associated with the complainant and the respondent we were interviewed by the committee."

In October 2018, Phantom Films was dissolved, seven years after it was set up by Vikas Bahl, Vikramaditya Motwane, Anurag Kashyap and Madhu Mantena. Founded in 2011, the banner has produced films like Lootera, Queen, Ugly, NH10, Bombay Velvet, Masaan, Udta Punjab, Raman Raghav 2.0 and Trapped, among others.

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