MUMBAI – Bollywood actor Farhan Akhtar says he feels a sense of guilt for not being aware of the indecent behavior of his cousin Sajid Khan, who has been accused of sexual harassment by several women.
Sajid was accused of sexual harassment by two women — actor Saloni Chopra and a journalist, following which he stepped down as the director of Housefull 4.
When the allegations had surfaced, Farhan, who has been a vocal supporter of #MeToo movement, was one of the first celebrities to react.
“Every time something like this has happened in the public domain, I’ve been very vocal with my opinion. When it came to someone within my family, I felt silence on that front would be very, very hypocritical,” Farhan said.
“So pretty much on the first day when three women came out and spoke, I felt it was important for me to speak out. Sajid, being my brother, I need to now work with him and how it is that he can make the women who have been affected by his actions, somehow feel better,” shared Farhan.
The Zindagi Phir Na Milegi Dobara star was in conversation with journalist Barkha Dutt at We The Women event here. When Barkha inquired about the apology for sexual abuse, Farhan said, “Absolutely. Whether stuff like this needs to go into the ambit of the court is for them to decide. These are the things he (Sajid) has to face.”
He also said that “To start with apologizing is a big step. To say ‘I am sorry about what I did’ is a big step, it can make a person feel a lot better.”
Farhan also shared in shock, “It was a surprise, disappointment and strangely because when it’s a member of your family, you also feel a certain level of guilt.”
“The truth is I didn’t. If I did know I would’ve spoken about it way before the story broke. There was this certain guilt about that, how could this be going on and I had no idea. So there were conflicted emotions,” he continued.
Farhan feels he wishes he had known about Sajid’s behavior and also shared that 3 women had spoken to him privately, accusing Khan ofharassing them.
“There were two-three women who got in touch with me privately to say ‘listen you should know whatever is being said is true and he has behaved in a similar way with us as well.
“These are the people I’ve known for 12, 15, 20 years and meet them very often but nobody ever mentioned this to me. I asked them why didn’t you ever tell me? ” he exclaimed.
Sajid Khan is not the only one in Bollywood who has been accused of #Metoo, others include veteran actors Alok Nath, Nana Patekar, Bollywood’s Shehenshah Amitabh Bachchan, and many other filmmakers too.
