In the wake of MeToo movement which is gaining momentum with every passing day, Payal Rohatgi released a statement claiming that she wanted the industry to notice the complaint she had raised in 2011 against Dibakar Banerjee. She had held a press conference back then and said that Dibakar asked her to lift her skirt and show her body to him while shooting Shanghai. Banerjee had denied the charges back then. Payal has asked Yash Raj Films, producers of Dibakar’s next Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar, to take cognizance of this since, the industry is finally waking up to providing safe working environment to all. Dibakar reacted to this development and said that his stand is unchanged.
Payal Rohatgi in a statement said that her voice was suppressed back then but she will not tolerate this anymore. She said, “ I faced a lot of backlash when I spoke about being sexually harassed by Dibakar Banerjee. Not directly, but indirectly, I was boycotted by the entire fraternity that supported the director, because it is a male-dominated set-up. It’s only recently that female filmmakers are having a say. Today, many women are speaking up about their ordeal, and the reason I am bringing up the 2011 incident again, is because I don’t want people to think that what I said back then was a made-up story. The allegations I made in 2011 were true and I stand by them even today. To give courage to others who are speaking.”
Payal wants justice to be delivered now and YRF to take strict action against Banerjee. It was encouraging to see that Bollywood fraternity is finally taking action against all sexual offenders slowly and steadily.
A- Listers like Hrithik Roshan and Akshay Kumar have expressed their displeasure and shortly sex offenders like Vikas Bahl and Sajid Khan who were helming their projects were asked to discontinue their services. Even veteran actors like Alok Nath, Nana Patekar who were named and shamed by their MeToo survivors, are facing tough consequences with their careers. Will Payal’s plea be heard? Log on to find out more.
