QuickE: Aamir Khan Drops ‘Mogul’; Big B on Sexual Harassment

‘PadMan’ to be screened at Tokyo International Film Festival & other stories.

Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao on Wednesday, .10 October released a statement that they are distancing themselves from a project

(Photo Courtesy: Facebook)

1. #MeToo In Bollywood: Aamir Khan Drops ‘Mogul’ With Subhash Kapoor

Filmmaker Kiran Rao with her husband, Aamir Khan. (Photo: Yogen Shah)

The #MeToo movement that’s currently raging across social media and is naming and shaming alleged sexual predators has hit another prominent filmmaker after Vikas Bahl.

Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao on Wednesday, 10 October released a statement that they are distancing themselves from a project because it involved someone who has been “accused of sexual misconduct”, without naming the filmmaker.

While the statement states that the particular case is subjudice and that they are in no position to pass judgement on anyone, it went on to say - “without casting any aspersions on anyone involved in this case, and without coming to any conclusions about these specific allegations, we have decided to step away from this film.”

Read more on The Quint.

2. On His B’Day, Amitabh Bachchan Addresses Sexual Harassment

Amitabh Bachchan shared the first look of his character from ‘Badla’.(Photo Courtesy: Amitabh Bachchan Blog)

The allegations levelled by Tanushree Dutta against Nana Patekar have triggered India’s #MeToo movement. Sexual misconduct allegations are bringing down powerful men who have exploited their positions. B-Town’s silence around sexual harassment in the entertainment industry has been deafening but celebrities now seem compelled to take a stand.

On his 76th birthday Amitabh Bachchan addressed the elephant in the room and opened up about sexual harassment in the entertainment industry, albeit generically.

Read more on The Quint.

3. Kapil Sharma Offers to Sing Romantic Song, Apologises Promptly

Kapil Sharma on Family Time With Kapil Sharma.(Photo courtesy: YouTube screenshot)

In a press conference to promote his Punjabi film, Son of Manjeet Singh, comedian-actor-producer, Kapil Sharma told the press that he has sung two songs for the film.

When one of the women from the media requested him to sing, he said that he would rather croon another romantic song for her, erupting into peals of laughter. He immediately retracted his statement and apologised saying that the remark unwittingly slipped out of his mouth. The footage towards the end of the video corroborates the instance.

Read more on The Quint.

4. Top Bollywood Body Sends Notices to Patekar, Bahl, Alok Nath

Taking a firm stand against cases of alleged sexual harassment in the film industry, the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) has sent notices to Nana Patekar, Vikas Bahl and Alok Nath, who have been accused of indulging in such acts. Going a step further, the Federation also announced to stop working with these people if they fail to respond to the notices.

Speaking to the press on Wednesday evening, Chief Advisor of FWICE Ashok Pandit said: “We have sent notices to Nana Patekar, Vikas Bahl and Alok Nath. They have to respond within a week. If they don’t respond on time, the five lakh members of our federation in different bodies will stop working with them. In a way, they will be banned by the entertainment industry.”

Read more on The Quint.

5. ‘PadMan’ to Be Screened at the Tokyo International Film Fest

Akshay Kumar-Radhika Apte-Sonam Kapoor-starrer PadMan will be screened at the 31st Tokyo International Film Festival. Akshay shared the news with a Japanese version of the poster.

PadMan retells the story of Arunachalam Muruganantham - the maverick who thought up and executed the brilliant idea of manufacturing low-cost sanitary pads for poor women. It was directed by R Balki.