Artist alleges molestation near 'Housefull 4' sets

A 26-year-old junior artist has alleged that she was molested near the sets of 'Housefull 4' film here, police said on Friday.

The alleged incident occurred Thursday night at Chitrakoot Studio at Amboli in western suburbs, where shooting of the Hindi film is going on, an official said.

Two persons came to the spot and allegedly started manhandling the victim's male friend over some previous enmity, he said, quoting the complaint filed by the artist.

The duo, according to the woman, pushed and "touched her inappropriately" when she tried to intervene, the official said.

She approached the Amboli police station and lodged a complaint, he said, adding that an offence of molestation has been registered against the accused, who have been identified.

The alleged incident took place near the sets and it had nothing to do with the film's shooting, the official said.

"We are investigating the case and nobody has been arrested so far," he said.

Executive producer of 'Housefull 4' Manoj Mitra said the incident took place off the sets when the lead actors had already packed up for the day.

In a statement, he said, "It is disheartening to hear about this incident. As an executive producer, I would like to clarify 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," he said.

"I would also like to clarify that Akshay Kumar and Ritiesh Deshmukh (who feature in the film) had packed up way before this incident occurred. It was their personal matter and nothing related to our film shoot," Mitra said.

Raman Dave, the head of dancers for the film, said, "There was some argument between the boys which happened post pack up outside the set. The woman 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 this fight the boys happen to push her away to stay out of the fight."

Dave said the argument was between the dancers and an "outsider" and it had nothing to do with the film.

"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," he said.