New Delhi: Neeraj Ghaywan’s latest film Homebound is again in the news, but this time not because of its Cannes Film Festival performance.
The film’s cinematographer Pratik Shah has been accused of ‘abuse’ and ‘inappropriate behaviour’ towards multiple women and the issue has skyrocketed to a point that several people, including Homebound’s producers Dharma Production have made statements.
Pratik Shah is a cinematographer who before Homebound has also worked in films like Jubilee and CTRL.
The allegations against him for misbehaviour came out recently when filmmaker Abhinav Singh took to Instagram accusing him of being “highly manipulative” and “emotionally abusive”.
Singh first took shots at Pratik Shah without taking names, urged his female followers to be careful around a cinematographer. He said, “To my female friends: Please be cautious around a certain cinematographer I’ve encountered-he’s highly manipulative and emotionally abusive based on my personal experience. If you want details, feel free to DM me.”
Later, he directly took Pratik Shah’s name saying, “The number of women who’ve reached out to me is honestly frightening. I feel like I’m having a Margot Robbie moment from Bombshell. I will not be silenced. And to those who are still employing him – f**k you. His name is Pratik Shah. He’s a cinematographer.”
This revelation then made big news, and on Saturday, Karan Johar’s production house Dharma Productions issued a statement on the matter. Dharma in their statement said, “Mr. Pratik Shah was a freelancer on the project Homebound and was working on it for a limited period. His engagement with us has been completed. During this limited period, our internal committee for POSH didn’t receive any complaints against him from any cast or crew on our film Homebound.”
Filmmaker Hansal Mehta also spoke about the incident in some length saying, “Abuse thrives in silence. It thrives in fear. Violent behaviour by people in positions of power should be thoroughly investigated. If it is found to be true, it should be exposed without any delay. For a long time, predators have used influence, privilege and fear as weapons to silence victims. This silence must be broken.”
Mehta further added, “Workplaces, especially creative workplaces, often hide poison. This has to be stopped. No art, no film, no script is at the cost of anyone’s safety or mental balance. Victims need a voice. They need a system that listens and works. Accountability culture is not to be cancelled. It has to be improved further.”
