The makers of the Hrithik Roshan-starrer Super 30 have confirmed that Vikas Bahl will not be given directorial credit for the film, Mumbai Mirror reported. Bahl, who has been accused of sexual assault by a former co-worker, will also not be associated with the post-production process, co-producer Reliance Entertainment’s Group CEO Shibasish Sarkar told the publication.
The editing will be overseen by Anurag Kashyap, but he too will not be credited, the report said. “There will be no director credit for anyone,” Sarkar told Mumbai Mirror, adding that Kashyap had taken up the responsibility on the request of Reliance and with a “professional and commercial understanding”.
The Queen director has denied the assault allegation. Bahl will regain his credit if his name is cleared by the judiciary or “a competent body”, Sarkar told Mumbai Mirror.
Super 30 has been produced by Reliance Entertainment, Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment, Roshan’s HRX Films and the now-defunct Phantom Films. Co-founded by Kashyap, Bahl, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Mantena, Phantom Films was dissolved in October 2018, on the same day that allegations against Bahl were detailed in a Huffington Post article. A former employee of Phantom Films accused Bahl of sexually assaulting her in May 2015. The woman claimed that though she had told Kashyap about the alleged assault, no action was taken against Bahl. Kashyap issued an apology to the woman and claimed he had been ill-advised by his legal team.
After the allegations surfaced, Roshan announced on Twitter that the film’s producers would “take a harsh stand if need be”.
Bahl later filed a defamation case against Kashyap and Motwane alleging that they had orchestrated a smear campaign and used the sexual assault accusation to disband the production house and pin the blame on him. He also asked that the woman who had alleged the assault be summoned to court to testify. The woman asked to be dropped from the case, but later filed an affidavit saying she stood by her allegation.
The sexual harassment row delayed the release of Super 30, which was earlier scheduled to open on January 25. The film is now set for a July 26 release. It has been inspired by the Super 30 IIT-JEE coaching institute for underprivileged students in Patna in Bihar, and stars Roshan as a character loosely modelled on the institute’s co-founder, Anand Kumar. The cast includes Mrunal Thakur, Amit Sadh and Nandish Sandhu.
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