Vikas Bahl calls Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane 'opportunists', sends legal notice

Filmmaker Vikas Bahl, who has been accused of sexual harassment by a former employee, has sent legal notices to Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane, co-counders of the now-dissolved Phantom Films. He has called them '#MeToo opportunists' and said the two men are using the sexual allegations against him to defame him, as reported by Mumbai Mirror.

Bahl had filed a notice through his lawyer Shamsher Garud of Jayakar and Partners. As per the tabloid report, Bahl has alleged that Kashyap had "bribed" another Phantom Films employee to label similar [sexual harassment] allegations against Bahl.

“This makes us wonder whether the alleged incident [of sexual assault] also has any authenticity, given that the alleged victim was, in fact, working as your own employee,” Bahl’s legal team said in a statement.

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Phantom Films was dissolved on 6 October, with the four founding partners – Kashyap, Motwane, Madhu Mantena and Bahl going their separate ways. Following the dissolution, both Kashyap and Motwane have hit out against Bahl, accusing him of having sexually assaulted a female employee.

“You are neither a witness nor the alleged victim, but instead an opportunist seeking to derive benefit based on unsubstantiated information. The alleged incident has not been established in any court of law and that you have exploited the media to propagate your own personal vendetta,” the notice stated.

In another bold claim, Bahl is said to have told his lawyer that he had shown the text messages he exchanged with the victim to Motwane, which in their client’s view rules out any sexual harassment.

“This was to show that no sexual harassment incident had taken place. Yet, Motwane [after the victim outed him] went ahead and issued statements against Bahl,” the notice stated.

Bahl has demanded an unconditional apology from Kashyap and Motwane and failure to do so would see him press defamation charges against them.