New Delhi:

Bengali filmmaker Arindam Sil, who was suspended by the Directors’ Association of Eastern India (DAEI) following a complaint of alleged sexual harassment by an actor, has denied the charges and said what was being construed as misbehaviour was unintentional. He said he never took it that way, and the alleged incident happened during the normal course of shooting in front of people.

Mr Sil is the first big name in the Bengali film industry, also called Tollywood, against whom action has been taken by the DAEI, following a massive #MeToo movement in the Kerala film industry.

“How do I react? I don’t know. But only one thing I can say I have been 100 per cent clear to my conscience, and the matter to which I have been blamed is something that has happened in front of all who were there while I was discussing a sequence and acting, how a scene should be done. I think most directors do that,” Mr Sil told NDTV today.

“There were other people on the floor, though shooting was being done inside a room. There were technicians too. I can only say that it was 100 per cent unintentional. But the other party, she might have felt something else, but I haven’t felt it, absolutely not felt it,” he said.

“I am absolutely an extremely professional person, working in this industry for years. On the floor, cinema is my passion and if there is anything that has to be shown, it’s done very clinically. That’s how I do it… As far as the woman is concerned, unintentionally if I have hurt the actor, then I am sorry. Whatever I spoke or we all discussed, nothing was videographed or recorded,” he said.

An apology letter which Mr Sil had submitted to the women’s commission that’s looking into the allegation was cited as prima facie evidence by the DAEI in suspending him from the association.

On what he plans to do next, Mr Sil told NDTV, “I don’t know. Let’s see.”

The actor had filed the complaint with the West Bengal Commission for Women. Mr Sil said the DAEI suspended him before he could present his views to the association.

The actor told NEWS18 Bangla that she had full faith in the commission. “Let me ask him why one has to be physical to explain a shot? We are all professional actors. The rest I will state before the commission whenever needed in the future,” she said.

Mr Sil is known for his detective films such as ‘Har Har Byomkesh’ and ‘Mitin Mashi’, besides the Shabor series.

Bengali filmmaker and actor Arindam Sil has been suspended by the Directors Association of Eastern India (DAEI) over allegations of sexual harassment on the sets of one of his films.

Sil, who is also the executive producer for several Bollywood movies like Te3n, Gunday and Kahaani, was suspended based on “prima facie evidence”.

In a letter to the director, the film body’s president Subrata Sen and secretary Sudeshna Roy said the allegations against him were of “deep concern” and “maligning” the organisation.

“Due to certain allegations made against you, and prima facie evidences we have with us, which are of deep concern and is maligning to the entire organisation, DAEI has decided to suspend you from membership for indefinite period or till the allegations against you are cleared,” a statement by DAEI read, adding that the suspension “comes into force with immediate effect.”

A noted filmmaker, Sil was also honoured by the West Bengal government with the Mahanayak Uttam Kumar Samman award in 2014.

This comes amid a storm of #MeToo allegations that has shaken the Malayalam film industry. The past month saw a wave of rape and assault allegations against senior Malayalam actors and film directors ever since the Justice Hema Committee report was released.

Several cases have been filed against top actors and directors, including veteran actors Siddique, Mukesh (also an MLA with Kerala’s ruling CPIM) and filmmaker Ranjith Balakrishnan.

Amid the flurry of allegations, superstar Mohanlal resigned as President of the under-fire Association of Malayalam Movie Actors, or AMMA. All members of the film body’s executive committee also submitted their resignations.

A statement said that the film body had taken “moral responsibility” and dissolved itself “in light of allegations made by some actors against some of the committee”.