Veteran screenwriter Javed Akhtar is the latest from Bollywood to come out in defense of filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani, calling him the "most decent" person in the industry.
Hirani is the latest name to be called out in India's #MeToo storm, which has engulfed many a stalwart such as Nana Patekar, Alok Nath, Vikas Bahl, Sajid Khan and former Union minister MJ Akbar, among others.
Akhtar took to Twitter to offer his support to the director, who has categorically denied the allegations via lawyer.
"I had come to the film industry in 1965. After the many years, if I am asked who the most decent people are in this industry over almost, perhaps the first name that will come to my mind is RAJU HIRANI. GB Shaw has said. 'It is too dangerous to be too good,'" Akhtar tweeted.
I had come to the film industry in 1965. After so many years if I am asked who are the most decent people you met in this industry over almost 5 decades, perhaps the first name that will come to my mind is RAJU HIRANI. G.B Shaw has said . “ it is too dangerous to be too good”— Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) January 16, 2019
Hirani has been accused of sexual assault by a woman who worked with him on his 2017 film Sanju. Hirani's lawyer Anand Desai termed the allegations "false, mischievous, scandalous, motivated and defamatory" in a statement issued soon after the allegations against the director was made public in a detailed investigation by HuffPost India.
The woman, who calls herself "an assistant", alleged that Hirani sexually abused her more than once between March and September 2018.
She detailed her allegations in an email dated November 3, 2018, to Hirani's frequent collaborator and Sanju co-producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra.
While the industry has largely been silent on the latest #MeToo case, Hirani's previous collaborators Arshad Warsi, Dia Mirza and Sharman Joshi and filmmaker Boney Kapoor have batted for him.
Actor Sharman Joshi, who has worked with Hirani in 3 Idiots, called the director a man of "immense truthfulness" and launched #IStandForRajuHirani on Twitter.
Arshard Warsi, who found critical acclaim and love for his portrayal of Circuit in Hirani's Munna Bhai series, told PTI, "I find it wrong to condemn somebody without proper proof or investigation. I would like to know the credibility of the accusation. Till all that is clear, I feel it is not right to accuse someone. I believe in innocent until proven guilty, not the other way around. Unfortunately, we just jump to conclusions."
Dia, a close friend of Hirani who's worked with him in Lage Raho Munnabhai and Sanju, said, "I am deeply distressed by this news. As someone who has known and respects Raju sir for 15 years, I can only hope that a due official enquiry is conducted. He is one of the most decent human beings I have ever worked with and I think it would be grossly unjust on my part to speak on this as I do not know the details."
"Rajkumar Hirani is too good a man to do something like this. I don't believe this allegation. He can never do something like this," Boney Kapoor told ANI.
Follow @news18movies for more
Comments
0 comment