‘Homebound’ DOP accused of inappropriate behaviour, Dharma Production distances itself from him

Mumbai, May 31 (PTI) A cinematographer, known for working on Vikramaditya Motwane's "Jubilee" series and recently on Neeraj Ghaywan's "Homebound", is at the centre of a major controversy over his alleged inappropriate behaviour.

Accusations against cinematographer Pratik Shah surfaced on social media two days ago. Shah, who has deleted his Instagram account in the wake of the controversy, was unavailable when reached out for a comment.

In response to the allegations, filmmaker Karan Johar's banner Dharma Production, which produced "Homebound", said Shah was a freelancer on the project and worked on it for a limited period of time.

Abhinav Singh, a filmmaker known for directing short films, recently accused Shah of abuse, calling him “highly manipulative” and “emotionally abusive”, in a post on Instagram.

Singh initially did not name Shah in his Instagram stories and urged his female followers to be careful around a cinematographer.

“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,” the filmmaker wrote.

In a subsequent post, the filmmaker claimed he received numerous messages from women, detailing their experiences and that's when he named Shah.

“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. His name is Pratik Shah. He’s a cinematographer,” Singh said.

In a statement on Saturday, Dharma Productions said Shah was employed as a freelancer on "Homebound" and even though they did not receive any complaints against him, they treat complaints of sexual harassment "seriously”.

“At Dharma Productions, we have a zero-tolerance policy against inappropriate behaviour and sexual harassment towards any individual working with us in any capacity, and we treat sexual harassment cases very seriously.

"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’,” the statement read.

Photographer Anu Pattnaik, who has worked on films like "Raees" and "Raat Akeli Hai", also shared her alleged unpleasant experience with Shah from 2022. She posted a comment on an Instagram post about the allegations against Shah.

“I had met him once in 2018 when he was nice. Cut to 2022 when he was sliding into my DMs asking for nudes. Then I kept hearing more and more about these incidents happening with other women. All from different sources,” Pattnaik wrote.

Another filmmaker, Bhakti Jondhale alleged, "I too had an experience with him during covid. He had asked me for inappropriate pictures. Fortunately, a fellow cinematographer friend, a junior then, shared the screenshots with another senior cinematographer, and he shared an apology. Looks like he didn't mean it, given he's continuing with the inappropriate behaviour." A budding female filmmaker had similar experiences with Shah.

“I first had a conversation with him during lockdown. He was a bit strange. He would not understand the concept of ‘No’. I had to block him. It made me really uncomfortable. He made me feel I led him to this. He continued to video call me many times, that’s when I blocked him,” the filmmaker told PTI on the condition of anonymity. PTI KKP RB MAH BK RB RB