On Housefull 4 set, woman allegedly molested during shooting; Akshay Kumar asks her to file case

MUMBAI: Amid allegations of sexual harassment against Sajid Khan and Nana Patekar, the upcoming movie Housefull 4 is again in new for all the wrong reasons. A female junior artist alleged that she was molested by a man on the sets of the film at Chitrakoot Studio in Mumbai late on Thursday night. Housefull 4, which was earlier scheduled to be directed by Sajid Khan and features Akshay Kumar in a lead role. The woman was molested by a man, who was among six men who were manhandling another junior artist, at the sets of film Housefull 4. The victim said, “I was sitting with a colleague when suddenly two men Pawan Shetty, Sagar and four others came and tried to take away my colleague forcefully.” “They also threatened and I tried to stop them. Shetty started pushing me and touched my private parts. I've filed a molestation case. I want him behind bars.” she said. The woman said that Akshay Kumar and Riteish Deshmukh were present on the set at the time and Akshay himself told that she should call the police about this matter and file his statement. ALSO READ: Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh heavily trolled for spelling mistakes in their wedding card New agency ANI reported that a molestation case was filed and an FIR registered. It is being reported that this happened due to the ongoing dispute between the two groups. The shooting of the film Housefull 4 has stopped after this incident. Actor Nana Patekar, on whom Actor Tanushree Dutta accused of sexual misconduct on the sets of the film "Horn Ok Pleassss" in 2008, also distanced himself with the ongoing project of 'Housefull 4. Raman Dave who is the head of the dance talent company who provides dancers for shoot has said, “There was some argument between the boys which happened post pack up outside the set and the girl tried to save one of the males who was her friend, she tried to stop the fight but unfortunately it was a heated argument and during the course of this fight the boys happen to push her away to stay out of the fight. We have learned that the argument was between the dancers and Pawan Shetty (who is an outsider) and nothing to do with our film. I had left from shoot but my set attendant Sandra was there on the set and even she has mentioned that nothing happened on the set. All the details reported about this incident failed to be true and it did not happen on our sets.” “It is disheartening to hear about this incident. As an Executive producer, I would like to clarify that the recent incident that showed up in the news related to the sets of Housefull 4, is something that evidently didn’t happen on the sets or during the shoot; it took place off the sets and hence I have to state that it is beyond our capabilities. I would also like to clarify that Akshay Kumar and Ritiesh Deshmukh had packed up way before this incident occurred. It was their personal matter and nothing related to our film shoot, ” says Executive Producer of Housefull 4 Manoj Mitra. Earlier, Sajid Khan who was directing stepped down as the director of "Housefull 4" after he was accused of sexual harassment by actors Saloni Chopra and Rachel White and journalist Karishma Upadhyay. He has been replaced by Farhad Samji. The cast of "Housefull 4", produced by Sajid Nadiadwalla, also includes Riteish Deshmukh, Bobby Deol, Sharad Kelkar, Pooja Hegde, Kriti Kharbanda and Kriti Sanon.