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Ever since the #MeToo movement has started in India, various scandals and cases of harassment are coming to light.
Rajkumar Hirani, who is one of the biggest Bollywood filmmakers, has been accused of sexual assault of an assistant director during the post-production of movie ‘Sanju’.
Various reports say that woman said that Hirani abused her multiple times over the duration of 6 months. As per reports by HuffPost India, the woman sent an email marking Anupama Chopra (wife of Hirani’s close business associate Bollywood producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra), scriptwriter Abhijat Joshi, producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra, and more.
The email allegedly said:
“I remember forming these words on my lips “Sir. This is wrong…Because of this power structure. You being the absolute power and me being a mere assistant, a nobody – I will never be able to express myself to you. My mind, body, and heart were grossly violated that night and for the next 6 months. I had no choice but to be polite to him. It was unbearable but the reason I endured it all until I couldn’t, was because I didn’t want my job to be taken away from me, and work to be questioned. Ever. I was worried that if I left midway, it would be impossible to find another job in this industry if he were to speak badly about my work. Because if Hirani said I wasn’t good, everybody would listen. My future would be in jeopardy.”
As per HuffPost India, Hirani shared printouts of text messages and emails exchanged between him and the complainant over the course of six months, to claim that he had a normal professional relationship with the complainant.
Here is what Hirani’s lawyer Desai said in his reply dated December 5, 2018, in response to queries sent by HuffPost India, “These communications establish that the allegations made against our client to you, that have given rise to your queries, are false and completely unjustified.”
