Days after allegations of sexual harassment surfaced against Queen director Vikas Bahl, Kangana Ranaut who played the role in the film spoke about the need for women to be vocal about sexual harassment at the workplace. Speaking at an event, the actor stressed the seriousness of the situation, “It is very courageous of a woman to come out and speak about sexual harassment. It’s not regarding this particular incident as I am not the involved party, but generally speaking, women who face this should be encouraged to talk about it by their families and their colleagues without feeling ashamed about it,” said Ranaut. Bahl is one of the founding members of Phantom Films, which has produced films such as Gangs of Wasseypur, Queen, Masaan and recently Udta Punjab. There have been rumours about the ouster of Bahl from Phantom, but the director in an interview to Mumbai Mirror has denied it. Earlier in the week lyricist Varun Grover, who has written lyrics for many Phantom projects, took to Twitter to address this issue, saying that silence was not an option. “I hope something positive, reassuring comes out of these new cases in the news. I hope there is some justice for the girls involved. Till then, the least we men can do is, acknowledge the disgustingly huge elephant in the room. Acknowledge the male entitlement over the female body and soul,” he said.
