Anurag Kashyap Rubbished Allegations Of Playing Adult Film And Molesting Payal Ghosh, Assistant Narrated When An Actress Suggests Casting Couch To The Director

This is not the first time casting couch in the Bollywood industry is mentioned, nor is it the first scandal related to sexual misconduct revealed to the public in 2020. However, fans are still shocked when hearing the name of the accused, Anurag Kashyap.

Anurag Kashyap is not an attention seeker for sure, so his personal life is not involved in much drama. Except for the number of Anurag Kashyap wives and girlfriends, we can say that this director leads a quite normal life as an average Indian, till this scandal comes out.

Last weekend, Payal Ghosh, a young actress, suddenly voiced against Anurag Kashyap, accusing him of molesting her in 2014 when his then wife Kalki was in the US.

"Anurag played an adult film, got naked, asking me to remove clothes"

To get an overview of the situation, let’s listen to the story from Payal Ghosh first. The actress intended to remain silent for 6 years because her family didn’t want her to ruin the filming career but she felt it’s time to speak up the truth.

The actress said the incident took place in 2014, one year after Anurag and his ex-wife Kalki Koechlin announced separation (he officially divorced Kalki in 2015).

Payal Ghosh said she first went to meet Anurag at his office but the director was busy talking to other people and didn’t have time to meet Payal, so she left. The second time he called Payal to come, he asked her to wear something simple. When Payal arrived, Anurag cooked for her but the two just had some conversations before she came home.

After that, Anurag Kashyap messaged the actress and asked her to come to his place but Payal refused because it was late. The director then asked who was living with Payal along with other things.

Two or three days later, Anurag Kashyap called Payal to come, this time to his house. When she came, he was smoking, so she sat there and they talked for some time before he took her to a room where she saw many shoes of his ex-wife. The room was described as having many books, cassettes and a sofa like a library.

Anurag then told her about the situation between him and his wife Kalki that “my wife has gone to the US. She is angry with me. I used to cook for her too…” The director also shared that “girls were ready to sleep with him just to do one film with Ranbir Kapoor.”

Payal Ghosh recalled at that moment Anurag Kashyap started playing an adult movie for them to watch and suddenly got naked in front of her. He asked Payal to remove her clothes after that.

The actress said she was scared, responding to Anurag that ‘Sir, I am not comfortable.’

Though the director convinced her all the actresses he had worked with were ready to come to him at just one call, Payal Ghosh insisted she was not comfortable at that moment and she left. Anurag continued to call Payal to meet him after that but the actress refused, saying the incident haunted her till date.

Anurag Kashyap’s lawyer stated allegations are completely false

Since Payal Ghosh exposed the story, Anurag Kashyap hasn’t explained or confronted Payal yet. He was asked to remain silent by his lawyer Priyanka Khimani who has just released a statement on the issue.

In the press statement today, on September 21, Anurag Kashyap’s lawyer stated that the director was deeply pained by the false allegations of sexual misconduct. The lawyer said the allegations were a mere tool for character assassination while undermining the movement and trading upon the trauma of actual victims of sexual harassment. Accordingly, Anurag would pursue his rights to the fullest extent.

The director tweeted his lawyer’s statement on his social account.

Meanwhile, many actresses and relatives have stood up for supporting Anurag, including Taapsee Pannu, Radhika Apte and Anurag first wife Aarti Bajaj.

>>> Details at: Radhika Apte, Ex-Wife Come Out In Support Of Anurag Kashyap post Payal Gosh’s Allegation

Anurag gracefully declined the casting couch offer from an actress, claimed his assistant

Not long after Payal Ghosh reported the incident she had with Anurag, the director’s assistant Jaydeep Sarkar commented on Tweeter to prove Anurag’s innocence.

Specifically, the assistant recalled one time when an actress suggested the casting couch favor to Anurag but the director gracefully declined it. Here’s his narration.

The story was in 2004 when Jaydeep was assisting Anurag in secondary casting for Gulaal movie. There was a young actress who insisted that she wanted to meet the director in person. When Anurag finished his work, he agreed to meet her. Assuming the casting couch was the only way to be part of the movie, the actress suggested a few favours to the director, verbally.

Jaydeep said when Anurag politely ignored the offer, that actress dropped her sari pallu several times. Couldn’t stand the situation anymore, Anurag requested the actress not to do that and she would get a role if she was the right fit.

When the director walked out of the room, he told Jaydeep he was disappointed that there were so many young girls who felt that was the only way to make it. The assistant concluded while working with Anurag Kashyap, the one thing he always observed was the absolute respect for women from the director.

>>> Related post: Guess Who? This Filmmaker Calls Young Actresses To His Place For Casting Couch, Suspect Detected