'Dabangg' director Abhinav Kashyap accuses Salman Khan and family of 'bullying'

Mumbai, June 16

Abhinav Singh Kashyap, who had helmed the 2010 Salman Khan blockbuster "Dabangg", says all his projects were sabotaged by the superstar's family.

Following the recent demise of Sushant Singh Rajput, the director took to Facebook to post a long note appealing to the government to launch a detailed investigation into the actor's death.

"The suicide of Sushant Singh Rajput brings to the forefront a much bigger problem of what many of us have been dealing with. Exactly what might compel a person to commit suicide?? I fear his death is just the tip of the iceberg just like the #metoo movement was for a much bigger malaise in Bollywood," wrote Kashyap.

"The death of Sushant Singh Rajput brings under scanner the role YRF talent Management Agency might have played in pushing him towards his suicide but that is for the authorities to investigate. These people don't make careers. They ruin your career and life."

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Having suffered personally for a decade, he said he can confidently say every "Talent Manager and all Talent Management Agencies of Bollywood are a potential death Trap for Artists".

Talking about his own experience, he said: "I have experienced exploitation and bullying first hand."

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Going back to his "Dabangg" days, he said: "The reason I moved out of making Dabangg 2 ten years ago is because Arbaaz Khan in collusion with Sohail Khan and family was trying to take control of my career by bullying me. Arbaaz Khan sabotaged my second project with Shree Ashtavinayak Films that I was signed up with by personally calling their head Mr. Raj Mehta and threatening him with dire consequences if they made a film with me. I had to return the signing money to Shree Ashtavinayak films and moved to Viacom Pictures. They did the same thing."

"Only this time the sabotager was Sohail Khan, and he intimidated the then Viacom CEO Vikram Malhotra. My project was sabotaged, and I was made to return my signing fee of Rupees 7 Crores plus interest of Ninety odd lacs. Its only then that Reliance Entertainment came to my rescue, and we forged an enduring partnership for my film Besharam."

Still, things didn't go smoothly with his career.

"Salman Khan and family sabotaged the release of the film and got their PROs to run a sustained negative smear campaign against me and my film BESHARAM before release. This scared the distributors from buying my film. Reliance Entertainment and I were capable and courageous enough to release the film ourselves but the battle had just begun. My enemies, which there were many ran a sustained negative Trolling and badmouthing campaign against the film till the Box Office of my film collapsed. But to their horror, Besharam had still netted 58 crores before it went out of theaters," he said about the film that had released in 2013.

"So they fought on... They sabotaged the Satellite release of the film that was pre-sold to Mr. Jayanti Lal Gada who was the main agregator for Zee Telefilms those days. With Reliances goodwill, they were able to re-negotiate the satellite rights sale with Gada for a much lesser price," he added.

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Over the next few years, "all my projects and creative endeavors have been sabotaged and I have been repeatedly threatened with life and rape threats given to/for the female members of my family. The sustained gas lighting and bullying destroyed my mental health and that of my family and led to my divorce and breaking up of my family in 2017. They erred and sent some of these threats as texts, sent to me as sms from several numbers. Armed with evidence, I went to the police in 2017 to file an FIR which they refused to register but registered a non-cognizable complaint. When the threats continued, I forced the police to trace the numbers, but they couldn't be traced back to Sohail Khan (the suspected sender). My complaint remains open to date and I still have all the evidence".

He says his enemies "sharp, cunning and always attack me from the back and stay Hidden. But the best part is after 10 years, I know who my enemies are. Let it be known that they are Salim Khan, Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan and Sohail Khan. There are many other small fry's but Salman Khan family is the head of this venomous serpant. They use a clever mix of their ill-gotten money, political clout and connections with the underworld to intimidate anyone and everyone".

"Unfortunately truth is on my side, and I am not going to give up like Sushant Singh Rajput. I refuse to cow down and will fight on till I see the end of either them or me. Enough tolerance. It's time to fight back.

"So this is not a threat, it's an open challenge. Sushant Singh Rajput has moved on and I hope he is happier wherever he is but I will make sure that no more innocent will kill himself over lack of work with dignity in Bollywood. I hope suffering actors and creative artists will share my post on various social media platforms as will the media and people who patronize the entertainment industry," he concluded with #metoo #BoycottSalmanKhan. — IANS

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