Will boycott Nana, Vikas Bahl if they fail to respond to notice: FWICE

Federation of Western Cine India Employees (FWCIE) on Wedesday assured that film personalities Alok Nath, Nana Patekar and Vikas Bahl will face a boycott from its members if they do not respond to their respective show cause notices in the given period.

All three of them have been asked to respond to the notices within 10 days of their respective release.

"Anyone, who is found guilty of harassment of any kind, will be boycotted by the federation. No one from the federation will work with that person, howsoever he or she is powerful," Ashoke Pandit, FWICE chief advisor, told reporters here.

"If Nana Patekar, Vikas Bahl and Alok Nath fail to respond to our show cause notices within 10 days, the federation will boycott them," he added.

Indian Film & Television Directors' Association (IFTDA) on Tuesday sent a show cause notice to Bahl after allegations of sexual harassment resurfaced against the director.

Last year, a woman employee at the now dissolved Phantom Films, which had Bahl as one of the partners alongside Anurag Kashap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Mantena, had alleged that Bahl behaved inappropriately with her during a trip to Goa.

FWICE said it has set up a women grievances redressal cell.

"The redressal committee will sit with the survivors and also provide them legal support," Pandit said.

The three-member all-women committee will be headed by celebrated TV and film director Swapna Waghmare Joshi as chairperson, with Bhavna Talwar as convenor and Priyanka Ghatak as co-convenor and will be supported by IFTDA's executive committee.

"We want to create a fear psychosis so that no one even dares to think about misusing his or her power. At the same time, we want to listen to the other party as well. So, we will give them time to respond. If they fail to respond, our workers will not work with them," Pandit added.

After Patekar and Bahl, Nath is the latest celebrity from Hindi cinema to have been accused of sexual harassment.

Days after writer-director Vinta Nanda accused Nath, who worked with her on '90s hit show "Tara", of rape, Sandhya Mridul alleged sexual harassment at the hands of the actor during the shooting of a telefilm in the beginning of her career.