Shibasish Sarkar clears air on Vikas Bahl’s exit from Anand Kumar biopic; says makers would consider putting his name back in the credit roll if he gets a court order clearing his name
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 13, 2019)

It’s official. Vikas Bahl is out of Super 30, the Anand Kumar biopic which features Hrithik Roshan as the math whiz and coach. And while Anurag Kashyap, Vikas’ partner in the now-dissolved Phantom Films, will be overseeing the post-production, Shibasish Sarkar, Group CEO of Reliance Entertainment, acknowledged that “Vikas is not associated with the edit and post-production” and that the film will be completed with its in-house credit partners.

However, Shibasish was quick to clarify that Anurag is not replacing Vikas. “There will be no director credit for anyone,” he states, adding, “As a producer, after substantial investment of time, money and the efforts of all our technicians and talent, it is our responsibility to complete the film with the best possible resources available to us. Anurag is a partner, he has edited films of other Phantom partners in the past. He agreed to take this responsibility on Reliance’s request, and with a professional and commercial understanding. Also, it has been agreed that he will not take any credit.”

The move follows sexual harassment allegations against the Queen director. Mirror was the first to report (April 6, 2017), that a woman employee of Phantom had alleged that Vikas had molested her during a trip to Goa in February 2016. Following her complaint to other stakeholders—Anurag Kashyap, Madhu Mantena and Vikramaditya Motwane—the matter was escalated to Reliance Entertainment and a committee was reportedly set up as per Vishakha guidelines to investigate the matter. Vikas, at the time, had denied anything like this happened, saying “there is no complaint to HR and no Vishakha committee” but had admitted that while the lady was not an employee, she was a friend and they'd worked together. “I want to ask her if I have crossed the line, whether I have done anything to hurt her and if she feels that way I would like to apologise,” he asserted. Despite this, allegations against him refused to die down. Even his Queen leading lady, Kangana Ranaut, revealed that during the shoot, he'd bragged of having casual sex with a new partner every day, and that he had made her uncomfortable by holding her too tight and burying his face in her neck. Subsequently, Anurag and Vikramaditya, in separate two-page statements on Twitter, had apologised to the survivor.

Last October, Anurag, Madhu, Vikramaditya and Vikas had dissolved their seven-year partnership and gone their separate ways, but Madhu, in his statement, had said that they would all continue to work exclusively with Reliance. On October 8, in the wake of the #MeToo wave, Hrithik tweeted, “It is impossible for me to work with any person if he/she is guilty of such grave misconduct. I am away and have access to only sporadic information. I have requested the producers of Super 30 to take stock of the apparent facts and take a harsh stand if need be. This is not to be hushed or brushed under the carpet. All proven offenders must be punished, and all exploited people must be empowered and given strength to speak up.”

Shibasish, however, insisted that Anurag had not be brought in on Hrithik’s request as is being reported. “There was no request from Hrithik on who needs to be associated to complete the film,” he stated. He also refuted reports that Vikas had got a severance pay to relinquish his credit. “The question of Vikas being paid an additional fee is absolutely incorrect,” he said, adding, “The film has shaped up well and we are all excited to tell this story on screen on July 26.”

When asked about Vikas’ reaction to the development, Shibasish informed that he'd been kept in the loop at every step. “Vikas has been informed of every single decision. So, there is absolutely no ambiguity of our decision regarding him.”

What would be their plan of action should he decide to move court for being dropped as the director as he has completed the shooting? “Vikas is currently pursuing legal action to clear the allegations levelled against him. If he can get an order clearing his name before the film’s theatrical release, either from the court or a competent body of course, as a company, we will reconsider whether his name can be given as the director. But only if he gets an order from a competent authority or institution,” he said.