Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 22, 2018)

Around two weeks ago as traumatic #MeToo stories started emerging, Aamir Khan had distanced himself from Mogul, the Gulshan Kumar biopic he was co-producing with Bhushan Kumar, over alleged sexual misconduct charges against the film’s director Subhash Kapoor. “As creative people, we have been committed to foregrounding and finding solutions to social issues, and at Aamir Khan Productions we have always had a zero tolerance policy towards sexual misconduct and predatory behaviour of any kind. We strongly condemn any act of sexual harassment, and equally we condemn any and all false accusations in such cases,” stated a joint statement issued by the actor-producer and wife Kiran.

Without taking names, Aamir’s statement reasoned that since this particular case is subjudiced and the legal process is in motion, without casting aspersions on anyone involved or coming to any conclusions about the specific allegations, they had 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. We believe that this is an opportunity for the film industry to introspect and take concrete steps towards change. For too long, women have faced the brunt of sexual exploitation. It has to stop. In this regard, we are committed to doing any and everything to make our film industry a safe and happy one to work in,” the statement concluded.

In his defence, Subhash Kapoor stated that while he understands and respects Aamir and Kiran’s decision, he intends to prove my innocence in the court of law. However, soon after, as Mirror (October 12) had reported, T-series head honcho Bhushan too decided not to work with the director.

Now, Mirror has learnt that following Subhash’s exit, Aamir is back on board. “The script is close to Aamir and he wants to make the film. Bhushan and he have had a number of meetings since and decided to collaborate on Mogul again. The hunt is on for another director. They are also looking at finalising the cast so they can roll with the film, asap,” informs a source close to the development. Buzz is, the 53-year-old actor could play Gulshan Kumar himself.