We all thought of Rajkumar Hirani as the nice guy of Bollywood; the guy everyone liked; who made the movies all of us loved watching. 3 Idiots the Munnabhai movies, PK are the movies that that critique society, make us laugh, think and maybe even change the way we think. Now however, the bloke friends call Raju is in the middle of a #MeToo accusation. This recalls to mind other surprising charges made in the past and reignites the whole conversation around acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. Here is what we know so far about the sexual harassment charges against Raju Hirani:
Sanju is a highly watchable film but a terrible biopic, because of the way it attempted to whitewash every selfish and criminal act of film star Sanjay Dutt. The alleged sexual assault by Raju Hirani occurred during the post-production phase of the film (which released in June 2018) between March and September 2018.
An as yet unidentified woman addressed an email to Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the co-producer of Sanju. A copy of the email was marked to Anupama Chopra, his wife and director of Vinod Chopra Films Pvt. Ltd. and to scriptwriter Abhijat Joshi.
The email dated 3 November 2018 accused Hirani of abuse and assault. According to the accuser, Hirani, who is 30 years her senior, first made suggestive remarks and then sexually abused her on more than one occasion over a 6 month period. The email speaks of an incident on 9 April “My mind, body and heart were grossly violated that night and for the next 6 months.”
The email speaks about the woman thinking of Hirani as a father figure until he accosted her. She spoke about being unable to do anything at the time because of the power structure of the situation with her being a mere assistant. She also said that she had ‘no choice;’ but to be polite to Hirani as her father had a terminal illness and she needed her job.
Hirani and his lawyer have denied any wrongdoing on part of Hirani in the matter. They have labeled the charges ‘false’ and also ‘malicious and defamatory’. Hirani also stated that he was open to undergoing independent investigation to clear his name. According to Hirani, the accusations have resulted in tension between him and Vidhu Vinod Chopra; putting a strain on the professional (the two are doing a movie together) and personal relationship.
The trailer of the film Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga released after the sexual assault allegations were made and Hirani’s name has been dropped from the credits.
The reaction of so many to charges against powerful men is the same: the presumption that the charges are cooked up only for publicity or money or some other expected gain. The fact that she did not file a police complaint is offered up as a trite reason to disbelieve her.
There is this counterview as well. The accuser is clearly small fry in a big industry controlled by powerful men. She has nothing to gain by going public with her complaint. In fact she has everything to lose: she may well be disbelieved, shunned by the industry, labeled ‘troublesome’ and may never find work again in an industry well known for protecting its own.
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