Bengali actor Rupaa Dutta’s claim that filmmaker Anurag Kashyap sent her sexually suggestive messages on Facebook DMs in 2014 has been disproved after a fact check. It appears that the actor was conversing with another man who shared his first name with the director. On Saturday, after actor Payal Ghosh accused Anurag Kashyap of sexual misconduct, Rupaa shared screenshots of her text chat with ‘Anurag’ on her social media accounts. “Hello friends. This is from the time in 2014 when I used to talk to Anurag Kashyap. His ID was Anurag Safar on Facebook. I stopped talking to him because he was talking inappropriately. This man does not even know the limit of disgusting behaviour. There is no respect for any woman in the eyes of Anurag Kashyap. Which is what I found out after knowing him. All of you must have come to know from my and Anurag’s conversation. That is why Payal Ghosh’s allegation is correct. Anurag Kashyap should be punished harshly. And he takes drugs too. Supplies to his artistes too. NCB should investigate, please. #arrestanuragkashyab,” she wrote. The screenshots show how ‘Anurag’ has asked her why she won an award and that he is interested in married women.
However, a report by Alt News says the account never belonged to the filmmaker. The Anurag Safar account was earlier in the name of ‘Anurag Kashyap’ and a few media outlets had even tagged it when reporting on Anurag’s films. The user later changed the ID to ‘Anurag Safar’ in 2009. He did the same on Twitter as well.The user had also clarified that he is not the filmmaker. “Pl Excuse me friends!!! I am not film director or producer Anurag Kashyap. I am another Anurag. Please do not bug me considering him,” he had written in a Facebook post in 2010. He denied it again on 2016 in a reply to a comment. “Have I ever claimed to be AK? Are you out of your mind?” he had written. Anurag Kashyap also denied using the account to Alt News. He said he is on Facebook under username anuragkashyap1972 and has a verified profile.
On Saturday, Patel Ki Punjabi Shaadi actor Payal Ghosh, had also accused Anurag of sexual harassment. Speaking to ANI, she said, “Five years ago I met Anurag Kashyap regarding work. He called me to his house. When I went there, he took me to a separate room and tried to sexually assault me. He forced himself on me.”Post the allegations, Anurag responded on Twitter in which he denied the allegations, claiming that they were ‘baseless’. “I neither behave like this nor do I ever tolerate this at any price,” he said.