#MeToo: Rajkumar Hirani accused of sexual harassment by an Assistant Director of 'Sanju'; filmmaker REACTS!

Director Rajkumar Hirani has been accused of sexual harassment by one of the Assistant directors of the film 'Sanju' which featured Ranbir Kapoor in the titular role.

The #MeToo movement in India gained momentum last year when Tanushree Dutta opened up about facing harassment at the hands of Nana Patekar during the shooting of the film-'Horn OK Pleassss' in 2008. Post which, many incidents of harassment & sexual misconducts came out in open with allegations against known Film & TV personalities including Alok Nath, Vikas Bahl, Sajid Khan among others. In the latest turn of events, reputed filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani has been accused of sexual harassment by one of the Assistant directors of the film 'Sanju' which featured Ranbir Kapoor in the titular role. Speaking about the allegations against him, Rajkumari Hirani has released a statement in which he has said that, "I was completely shocked when these allegations were brought to my notice about two months back. I had suggested immediately that it is essential to take this matter to any committee or any legal body. The complainant has chosen to go to the media instead. I want to very strongly state that this is a false malicious and mischievous story being spread with the sole intention of destroying my reputation." Rajkumar Hirani (Photo: Web) According to a Huffington Post report, the woman has alleged that the filmmaker abused her sexually in between March & September (total 6  months) in 2018 on multiple occasions. The report further states that the woman has sent e-mails to Hirani & his colleagues including Vidhu Vinod Chopra, his wife Anupama Chopra among others regarding the harassment faced by her. In her mail, the woman has reportedly revealed that the '3 Idiots' filmmaker sexually harassed her for the first time on 9th April 2018 in his office. She wrote, “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.” The woman, who is 30 years younger to Rajkumar Hirani, revealed that she couldn't raise her voice against the harassment at that time because she was scared that she will lose her job. Speaking about the same to the leading daily, she said, “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.” While Rajkumar Hirani's friend & colleague Vidhu Vinod Chopra is yet to react on the same. His wife Anupama Chopra has confirmed that the viction has shared her story with them & they had assured full support to her. Speaking to the publication, Anupama said, “I have met the complainant twice. Both times, I have offered my full support and recommended that she take the complaint to a legal body or a neutral party since we cannot be arbitrators or judges on this. We also offered to set up an ICC at VCF (which we have set up since then) even though a VCF ICC could not have taken up the case since she was an RHF (Rajkumar Hirani Films) employee at the time. These are two separate companies. She stayed at our house for two nights. We also provided the number of an expert on the issue so she could talk to a professional. She said she needed time to think through how she will take it forward. I did not want in any way to pressurise her or steer her in any direction. As Vinod and I told her then, she has our full support and we are fully respectful of whatever decision she has taken.” Due to the same reason, his name from the latest posters of Sonam Kapoor & Anil Kapoor's 'Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga' was dropped. In the first posters, Hirani's name was credited as one of the film's producers. Old & New poster of Ék Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga' This is indeed shocking as Rajkumar Hirani is one of the most talented filmmakers of our country & has made blockbusters like 'Munna Bhai MBBS', 'Lage Raho Munnai Bhai', '3 Idiots', 'PK' and 'Sanju'. Stay tuned for more updates!