But the friends didn’t talk about their upcoming Eid clash during the closed-door interaction
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 2, 2020)

On Saturday, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar were shooting on adjacent sets at Mehboob Studios in Bandra for their respective films, Radhe and Laxmmi Bomb, which are gearing up for a big box-office face-off this Eid. Salman arrived at about 3 pm, and on learning that Akshay was shooting next door, strolled over to his vanity van. They remained inside for nearly 15 minutes, before getting back to their shoots.

The closed-door chat sparked speculation about whether the duo met to discuss the clash and try to push around the release date. But according to a source, it was just a casual meeting between friends and business wasn’t discussed. “There is no bad blood between them because of the upcoming clash,” the informer assured.

Salman’s shoot went on till late night while Akshay was done by evening, followed by a wrap-up party with the cast and crew. He had been shooting for the climax action scene and a song in his transgender avatar for the last six days in the studio and was happy to let his hair down with food and music. “They even played a cricket match on the sets, with Akshay leading one team and Ganesh Acharya (choreographer) as the captain of the other,” added the source, saying the Khiladi Kumar’s close friend, cricketer Shikhar Dhawan, was spotted at the party, too.

Complainant writes to National Commission for Women detailing assault that allegedly happened in 1990; choreographer denies allegation
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; February 5, 2020)

Barely a week after an assistant dancer filed an FIR against Ganesh Acharya, another senior background dancer approached the National Commission for Women (NCW) on Tuesday alleging sexual abuse at the hands of the Bollywood choreographer in 1990.

Acharya denied the second set of allegations too, saying he is being maligned. In her letter addressed to the NCW, the woman stated that Acharya coerced her into having sex with him in 1990.

"It happened to me three decades ago. I have been married and have had kids, but he hasn't changed one bit. When I read about the FIR, I knew I had to speak up too. In 1990, I used to go to Sahiba hall in Andheri West where several masters take dance classes. Acharya used to assist Kamal masterji. I was 18 then and working as a non-member dancer," the woman told mid-day.

"One day, Acharya said it's mandatory to learn Jive for auditions and invited me to his class in Santacruz East. Classes were held on Sundays at 11 am. His assistant Dilip picked me up from Khar subway and dropped me to a room on the first floor of Hotel East and West. I did not suspect anything till that point," she said.

"There were no other students. Acharya said Dilip has gone to bring the sound system and other students. On the pretext of teaching me Jive, he kissed my neck and cheeks.

"When I resisted, he threw me on the bed and said he wanted to make love to me and marry me. I kept saying no but he kept moving his hands over my body. I was too terrified and told him I am on my period. He finally got off from me and said, 'Kya yaar, mood kharab kar diya'," the woman said.

The woman ran out of the hotel and did not return to his class. "He got other students to call me and ask what the problem was. He said he was willing to waive off the fees. I know another person with whom he tried something similar. It's shocking that he is still misusing his power," she said in her complaint.

The first complainant said that there must be many more with whom he is doing the same. "He can claim that people are trying to malign him, but there are many with similar stories."

"It has been 30 years since the incident, but my anger hasn't gone. I never told anyone about his behaviour and the incident except my husband. It's time that we women speak up", the latest complainant said.

Acharya's response
Acharya told mid-day that these are concocted stories part of a conspiracy against him. "I have explained in a press conference that some people are tarnishing my image because I took a stand against them. They control trade unions in the industry. My stand against them and in the interest of dancers is causing them losses. Everyone involved in these wrongdoings against me will be exposed. They may do many such things against me, but I will not give up," he said.

The 33-year-old woman has accused him of depriving her of work and forcing her to watch adult videos
Neha Maheshwri (BOMBAY TIMES; February 2, 2020)

Five days after a 33-year-old assistant choreographer filed a non-cognisable offence against Bollywood choreographer Ganesh Acharya, who is also the general secretary of the Indian Film and Television Choreographers Association (IFTCA), for allegedly expelling her membership, depriving her of work, demanding commission and forcing her to watch adult videos, Acharya has now filed a counter NC against her. The lady also approached the National Commission for Women a few days ago against Ganesh.

THE ALLEGATIONS LEVELLED BY HER
Talking about the issue, she said, “I started working as a coordinator for dancers in November 2019. However, because of certain issues in the past, Ganesh Acharya, who is the general secretary of IFTCA, used his position to expel me from the association and also directed other members to stop working with me, because I refused to give him commission. I am sitting at home unemployed since two months. That’s when I approached Saroj ji (Khan), who assured me that they would look into the matter at the Special General Meeting (SGM), which was held on Sunday. While I was sitting in the corridor waiting to present my side of the story, Ganesh came out and started screaming. He said, ‘Yeh kya kar rahi hai yahaan par? Isko thappad aur laat maar kar baahar nikaalo’. Two women assaulted me on his instructions.”

She added, “In my complaint to NCW, I have also stated that Ganesh, who would often be found watching adult videos every time I visited his office, forced me to watch them, too. I reprimanded him and told him that if he ever repeated it or called me, I would file a complaint against him with the association and the police.”

GANESH ACHARYA REFUTES HER CLAIMS
BT spoke to Ganesh Acharya, who said, “She was part of a group of dancers I worked with in 2007. Apart from that, I don’t know this girl at all. The accusations of assault in my presence and on my instructions are false, as I had left for a shoot before the altercation between her and the two others took place.”

Regarding the accusations of expelling her because she didn’t agree to pay him a commission and forcing her to watch adult videos, he said, “The decision to expel a member is taken after everyone’s consent, and she was expelled owing to her crude and unflattering remarks on dance masters. I am against the practice of commission and don’t work with coordinators, so why will I demand commission from her? Disgruntled by the termination of her membership, she sent letters and notices to IFTCA and its members making false and frivolous allegations of not letting her work and harassing her. However, in these alleged complaints, there was no mention of her latest cooked-up story of porn videos being shown to her. Her accusations are false and baseless.”

Ganesh’s lawyer, Ravi Suryawanshi said, “We have given a written complaint to the Oshiwara Police on January 31 against her for defamation and filed an NC for the same. We have also lodged a complaint at Amboli police station against her for filing a false complaint. Ganesh Acharya will soon be initiating legal proceedings against her and her accomplices.”

Saroj Khan accuses fellow choreographer Ganesh Acharya, who denies the charge, claims no affiliation to a new body
Akash Bhatnagar (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 17, 2020)

On December 26, 2019, the All India Film Television Events Dancers Association (AIFTEDA) was formed, allegedly by disgruntled former members of the Cine Dancers Association (CDA). Now, choreographer Ganesh Acharya, who was recently accused by the latter for paying dancers less than the mandated rates, finds himself in the middle of a tussle between the old and the new associations.

CDA representative and veteran choreographer Saroj Khan claims Acharya formed the new association, “using his position to manipulate dancers and malign the old association (CDA).”

“CDA was established in 1955 and has given dancers like Remo D’souza and Ahmed Khan to the industry. Even Ganesh and his father were a part of it. Starting a new organisation by boycotting your roots is disloyalty,” she says, adding, “Ganesh has been badmouthing CDA all over the industry and poaching its dancers by promising more money. They are dividing the dance community. Ganesh has his own people take the posts in the new association.”

While she claims Acharya has showed no interest in a truce, the latter says that he is not affiliated to the new body and is still a CDA member. “I was just present at the AIFTEDA inauguration as the dancers had invited me. Even they want to return to the CDA but only after a fair election and if they get fair wages,” he informs.

Acharya goes to add that CDA was shut down six months ago following a legal dispute that began in 2018. “But three months ago, Zahid Shaikh, Deric Biswas, Al Fahim Surani and Ravi Kanwar reopened it without showing any court orders to do so and filled up the posts without elections. Now, they are pressuring dancers to join the association again,” he said.

MUMBAI MIRROR (December 26, 2019)

On Wednesday, Mirror spotted Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif at the Goregaon Bus depot. The actor duo was shooting for a song in Rohit Shetty’s Sooryavanshi after wrapping up the modern version of “Tip Tip Barsa Pani” in Hyderabad earlier this year.

Colour-coordinated in black, the film’s leads were surrounded by back-up dancers and four helicopters as they shook a leg on cue. “The shoot began early in the morning and the song was being choreographed by Ganesh Acharya. It was a larger-than-life set-up with bikes and cars also involved in the sequence,” informs a source.

In the tradition of Rohit Shetty actioners, a sedan suspended from a crane was also a part of the set-up. In October, the filmmaker shot the climax of his next cop-drama in a 20-day schedule with his new leading man, Ajay Devgn’s Singham and Ranveer Singh’s Simmba. The action-packed sequence will be a blend of maar-dhaad and humour, with a dramatic build-up that justifies the crossover in his cop-verse.

Dutta files protest petition against clean chit given to Nana Patekar; says witnesses were not examined, electronic evidence ‘botched up’
Sharmeen Hakim (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 6, 2019)

Rebutting the clean chit given by the Oshiwara police to actor Nana Patekar and three others in the sexual harassment case against them, actor Tanushree Dutta has accused the police of carrying out a “farcical show of investigation” and sought transfer of probe as well as action against the police officers concerned.

In her 40-page protest petition filed in the Andheri metropolitan magistrate court, Dutta has given a breakdown of how crucial witnesses supporting her case were allegedly not examined and electronic evidence was botched up. She has alleged that unlike victims of sexual harassment she was never called to record her statement before a court. She has further claimed that most of the 13 witnesses ‘picked by the police’ were either connected to the accused or working with them.

A magistrate will now decide whether to accept the police’s clean chit given to the accused in June, reject the report or order further investigation. In the June summary report, the police had called Tanushree’s claims ‘false’.

Last year, Dutta had accused Nana Patekar of molesting her during the shoot of a film song in 2008. She had also accused director Rakesh Sarang, producer Samee Siddiqui and choreographer Ganesh Acharya of cover-up. Dutta spoke out after Siddiqui made derogatory remarks against her, saying she was “on her period” to have staged a walkout from the film set so many years ago.

In her petition filed through advocate Nitin Satpute, Dutta has alleged that despite being a complainant in the case she was never informed by the police about the ‘B’ Summary (clean-chit) report. She also said she was for forced to pay for a copy of the report.

Dutta has said that reporter Janice Sequeira interviewed her soon after the incident but Sequera’s statement was ignored by the police. She said that the assistant director of the film was also an eyewitness, and while her statement was partially recorded she was never called to the police station to complete its recording. She has also alleged that another journalist, who was present at the film shoot, was not examined. As per the petition, the police did not even bother to record the statement of the person who had conducted the sting on producer Samee Siddiqui – he had allegedly said “ho gaya hoga aisa touch” about Patekar.

Dutta said two other eyewitnesses, a hair dresser and spot boy, were never called to the police station for recording of statement. She has also claimed that the police recorded the statements of unrelated people – Sudhir Pande, Ramesh Torani and Ratan Jain who were working for CINTAA at the time – and were not present during the incident.

She said that the statements that accompany seizure of the CD against Siddiqui’s “sting” have vital parts missing. She said a 65(B) – a document certifying the authenticity of any content on an electronic device – has deliberately not been taken by the police.

Dutta said Nilesh Pawaskar, the lawyer who had advised her at the time, failed to disclose to her that he had represented Nana Patekar at some time and asked her only to take up the payment issue with the producers despite knowing all that had transpired. Pawaskar told Mirror that the allegations are false and the fact that he represented Patekar was public knowledge. “She should have been better advised by her lawyer.” Pawaskar said.

The duo feature in the recreated version of the 1998 Himesh Reshammiya chartbuster in their upcoming comedy
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 24, 2019)

Remixes are the flavour of the season and Anees Bazmee’s upcoming comedy, Pagalpanti, produced by Bhushan Kumar and Kumar Mangat, is in on the trend. “Tum Par Hum Hai Atke”, from the 1998 Salman Khan-Kajol romcom, Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya, has been recreated by composer Tanishk Bagchi and sung by Mika. Shot at real locations across London for three-four days, it has John Abraham wooing lady love Ileana D’Cruz with background dancers prancing around.

“The scale of this song is spectacular, a notch above the original,” promises Ganesh Acharya, who had, incidentally, also choreographed the original. “While no one can do what Salman and Kajol did, John and Ileana have done well to match up to the original.” He goes on to reveal that the original was shot amidst heavy rains. “Can you imagine, we managed to pull it off in just three hours, and the song has attained cult status today!” he marvels.

While John, who counts the song among his favourites, “thoroughly enjoyed dancing to it,” Ileana admits to being nervous before filming as “recreating a classic is always met with certain expectations but shooting with Ganesh master made it easier”. Anees says he loves the way John has performed in this song and believes there should be more such songs with him.

Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya marked Himesh Reshammiya’s debut as a composer. He is ecstatic that a lot of his songs are being remade today. “I am not against remakes, it’s a superb trend. As long as the original composer and lyricist get credit and royalties, it’s great,” he asserts and is grateful to Salman, his brother and the film’s director Sohail and their father Salim Khan for giving him a break. “This song became popular because of its tune, which was composed on a completely experimental, off-beat rhythm,” he points out.