Kiwi director Jane Campion and a Pak filmmaker have levelled charges against festival organiser, who denies them

Film festivals in India have often got bad press. But hardly ever has the organiser of an international film festival been accused of harassing two female delegates, among them an Oscar winner.


Acclaimed: Jane Campion won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay
for The Piano (1993), which she also directed. file pic

The office of Saugata Roy, Minister of State for Urban Development, Government of India, received letters of complaint from New Zealand director Jane Campion and Pakistani filmmaker Ayesha Arif Khan (copies of which are with MiD DAY) and forwarded it to the Delhi police and Economic Offences Wing for investigation on priority basis on February 1, 2010.u00a0

u00a0In her letter, Campion (55) alleged that one of the organisers of 5th India International Women's film Festival, Bhaskar Deb, who is the husband of festival director Shyamali Banerjee, harassed her and made lewd advances at other women filmmakers at the festival.u00a0

Campion, who won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay in 1993 for The Piano, has said she decided to be part of the festival, as the organisers claimed that the urban development ministry was involved. She said she had also asked the ministry to reimburse her travel expenses, which amounted to Aus$10,000 (Rs 4.2 lakh), which she claims the organisers had promised to bear.

'Scandalous fraud'
In her letter, Jane has called the film festival 'a scandalous fraud'. "I am not the only filmmaker to be badly treated. Many other women experienced rude and even lewd advances from the husband of the festival director and all felt shocked and angry that such a brazen fraud could be allowed to proceed unimpeded by the Indian authorities," Campion wrote.

In another complaint, which was also forwarded by Roy's office to the Delhi police, a Pakistani filmmaker identified as Ayesha Arif Khan has complained that after she reached Delhi on December 16, Bhaskar Deb invited her to join him and his friends for dinner after she met him at his art gallery at Shahpur Jat.
Thereafter, Ayesha alleged that she was "repeatedly mauled by a drunken Bhaskar and constantly offered alcohol", which she refused.u00a0

On the evening of December 17, Bhaskar's friends allegedly knocked at the door of her hotel room repeatedly and asked her to join them at a roof top party. "I am asked thrice to give them company by various Bhaskar

Profile

Jane Campion is a celebrated director from New Zealand. Campion is one of only four women to be ever nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director (The Piano). Her first short film, Peel (1982), won the Short Film Palme d'Or at the 1986 Cannes Film u00a0u00a0Festival. She is also the director of the critically acclaimed Holy Smoke, starring Kate Winslet.

cronies knocking on my door. It was the same show of extreme lechery and drunkenness," Khan's letter reads.u00a0

Ayesha also wrote that she learnt from a Turkish film director that Bhaskar had called her late in the night, wanting to talk to Ayesha. "He was so drunk that he didn't even know which room he was calling," the letter reads.u00a0

'No real festival'
u00a0On December 18, Ayesha said "in a state of extreme distress and concern for her personal safety" she informed the Pakistani high commission, after which they booked her flight tickets to Pakistan.u00a0
Both Campion and Ayesha alleged that the film festival itself was a sham, with the opening ceremony cancelled and complete disarray in terms of festival spending.

"On the afternoon of December 18, I arrive at the screening venue. The auditorium is empty. There is no press and it is finally evident that there is no real festival," writes Ayesha.

The Other Side

When MiDDAY contacted him, Bhaskar Deb denied the allegations. "Jane Campion is a racist from Australia. During the festival, she went to Jaipur without informing anyone. We were all in a state of distress and also released an advertisement in the papers about her missing status. From Jaipur she flew to Australia directly and we came to know about this later. I have also filed a case against her. Her allegations are baseless. After two months, she is making these false allegations," he said. About Ayesha's allegations, Bhaskar said she was from Pakistan and was trying to bring bad name to India. "I was in my office the whole day and did not go to the hotel. Her allegations are false. She is trying to bring disrepute to my country. There were other filmmakers too and no one has complained about me. I have worked with several top names in the industry and they all know me."u00a0 Bhaskar also added that his festival was affiliated to the the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and had been a success all these years. "This is not a small festival. Directors of repute know about it and u00a0attend it."u00a0 Joint Commissioner of Police Ajay Kashyap (Southern Range) refused to comment on the matter over the phone. Meanwhile, none of the officers from the Economic Offences Wing, to whom the Campion case was forwarded by the Ministry, were available despite repeated attempts. How do you like the new new mid-day.com experience? Share your feedback and help us improve. Read Next Story Infamous five in police net› Trending Stories Latest Photos Latest Videos Latest Web Stories ADVERTISEMENT Mid-Day Fast ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT