SHOCKING! Now Subhash Ghai, Piyush Mishra and Luv Ranjan accused of sexual harassment

Just when we thought it couldn’t get worse, we are talking about the MeToo Movement, just last night we saw three back to back names coming out. Subhash Ghai, Piyush Mishra and Luv Ranjan. It isn’t only shocking but also very disturbing to see veterans like Ghai and Mishra in the list of perpetrators too. First, let’s talk about the so-called Showman of Hindi Cinema.

An anonymous actress stated about the filmmaker that he invited her to his house for late-night sessions. Within a few moments, he tried to forcibly kiss her and touch her inappropriately and then one day, spiked her drink and took her to a hotel. Ghai, when asked about the allegations, said, “I deny strictly and firmly all false allegations like these. If she claims this way, she should go to the court of law and prove it. Justice will be done or I will go for defamation certainly.” He also took to his Twitter account and stated:-

Destiny shows u good times bad times-I m deeply pained 2b gripped in this movement but thank those who know me n my respect I shower to women n their dignity in spite of our cosmetic world we live n react more thru our love affection n respect Now seen in different perspectives

— Subhash Ghai (@SubhashGhai1) October 12, 2018

Now coming to Piyush Mishra. A girl called Ketki Joshi said Mishra misbehaved with her back in 2014 at an event. She said, “He started light flirting in front of the 20-25 people and kept drinking throughout the party, getting progressively inebriated. Then he grabbed my hand and started rubbing his hands against mine. He suddenly stood up and took a step towards me. I sensed he was coming to hug me or grope me. I told in an authoritative raised voice, ‘Aap please baith jaaiye’. The others listened to it and quickly came there and took me away.”

Mishra came out and in an interview said, “I do not remember the stated incident as I was probably a few drinks down. But nevertheless I would like to extend my apology for making the lady uncomfortable either with my words or actions.”

Lastly, Luv Ranjan’s story is more horrifying. Again under anonymity, an actress gave the following statement:-

“It was 2010. I was 24, and had done two small roles in big movies opposite well-known actors, and was in the auditioning phase. I was called by Vicky Sidana, a casting director, who said that the auditions for Pyaar Ka Punchnama were on, and a very short list of girls had been called for them. I trusted him and hence, went for it. The dress code was a short skirt and a tight top, which was fairly common, and wasn’t a problem with me. There were seven to eight girls there, and the strange part was that they didn’t give us dialogues as they would usually ask you to enact the scene. This was supposedly only a look test.”

She added, “I was at Kumar Mangat’s office and Abhishek Pathak, his son, was the producer. I’m not sure whether or not he was present that day because I didn’t see him or interact with him. The director, Luv Ranjan, and the cinematographer were sitting in a room and calling the girls in one by one. The girl who went in before me came out with an ashen look and seemed uncomfortable. She hurriedly left. Then I went in. The room was properly lit for an audition and there was a proper camera set up, etc. They asked me to give an introduction, which was totally normal, totally legitimate.” 

The horrific part comes now, “He said he wanted to see my body so he could check if I needed to lose weight. He said they were not recording anything and the cinematographer would also leave the room, so I needn’t worry. After that, it all gets blurry. My heart was pounding and I rushed out saying I had to leave and wasn’t comfortable with it. I went home and tried to forget about it. Then he asked me if I used condoms. The last straw was him asking me if I masturbate. By then, I was scared and asked if I could leave. He said I shouldn’t misunderstand him, and called the three guys into the room and asked them, ‘Do you trust me enough as a director, that if I were to ask you to drop your pants, you would?”

Ranjan, as expected, denied the allegations and said, “It’s absurd. It’s so absurd that I don’t know what to say except that I deny it. I don’t know how to react to an anonymous allegation beyond this and am willing to face any legitimate inquiry.”

Let’s not be shocked if some more reputed names are revealed in the coming days!

Stick to this space for the latest in Bollywood!