In the wake of the #MeToo movement, filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani’s name was called out for sexually assaulting his Sanju crew member. Soon after, his name was deleted from the credits of Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga that stars Sonam Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao and Juhi Chawla.
A few days back, the film’s co-producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra was asked about the controversy but he kept mum. Yesterday, Sonam Kapoor said that she would like to reserve her judgement about Hirani being embroiled in the controversy. However, the actress was trolled for not taking a stand on the matter.
Now, the latest actor to speak about him is Rajkummar Rao. Huffpost India, who broke the news of Raju Hirani being called out for being a sexual predator, got in touch with Rao. The National-Award winning actor said, “It was absolutely shocking when I read the article. The Ek Ladki Ko... team took the decision to revoke his credit from the film and I fully respect and stand by that decision.”
Further adding he said, “Whenever such an allegation comes out, there has to be an investigation where both parties put their points across. It’s only then we can conclusively pass an informed judgement. Only after that we will know specifically what transpired. This is the least that can be done.”
The Stree actor concluded, “I am unaware of the details. But, of course, I feel very bad for the woman. Once an inquiry is conducted, we will be in a better place to form an informed opinion.” It was in mid-January, that Rajkumar Hirani was accused of sexual assault by a woman, who had worked as an assistant director with him on Sanju. She had placed allegations of sexual misconduct against him.
While, he denied the allegations by releasing a statement, his name stands deleted from the movie credits.
Image Source:wikivividly,Instagram/sonamkapoor,rajkummar_rao
Image Source:wikivividly,Instagram/sonamkapoor,rajkummar_rao