Aamir Khan walks away from film after harassment claims against director

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan on Wednesday announced his departure from an upcoming film following sexual harassment allegations against the director.

The actor while not mentioning the name of the film or director took to Twitter and announced that he was stepping away from the project after he was informed of “sexual misconduct” on the part of a collaborator. 

Aamir was referring to the Gulshan Kumar biopic 'Mogul' which he was set to produce and was to be directed by Subash Kapoor, who has been accused of sexually harassing actor Geetika Tyagi in 2012. Tyagi filed a case against Kapoor in 2014 and also released a video in which she can be seen slapping him in the presence of his wife.

In a joint statement, Aamir and his wife, Kiran Rao, said, “At Aamir Khan Productions we have always had a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual misconduct and predatory behaviour of any kind.” 

“Two weeks ago, when traumatic #MeToo stories began emerging, it was brought to our attention that someone we were about to begin work with has been accused of sexual misconduct. Upon inquiry we found that this particular case is sub-judice, and that the legal process is in motion,” the statement read.

“So, without casting any aspersions on anyone involved in this case, and without coming to any conclusions about these specific allegations, we have decided to step away from this film. We do not want our action to reflect in any manner on the people involved in this case,” it added.

Aamir and Rao said they were not in any position to pass a judgement on anyone as that is for the police and judiciary to do but stressed that a clean up was needed in the industry.

Responding to the statement, Kapoor, in an interview to The Indian Express, said he respects Aamir’s decision. “I understand and respect Aamir Khan’s and Kiran Rao’s decision. Since matter is sub-judice, I intend to prove my innocence in the court of law.”