Cinematographer Pratik Shah, known for his work on projects like Neeraj Ghaywan's Homebound, Vikramaditya Motwane's Jubilee and CTRL, has been accused of inappropriate behaviour by filmmaker Abhinav Singh.
What
- Abhinav Singh, who directed short films such as Sita starring Shriya Pilgaonkar and Amazon Mini TV's Yatri Kripya Dhyan De, featuring Shweta Basu Prasad and Shaheer Sheikh, called Pratik Shah "highly manipulative" and "emotionally abusive," citing testimonies from multiple women.
- Following the allegations, Shah, who was recently at the Cannes Film Festival with the Homebound team, deactivated his Instagram account late Thursday evening.
- According to The Hollywood Reporter, a source close to the Indian Women Cinematographers' Collective (IWCC) shared that Shah had come under scrutiny about four years ago after a young cinematographer contacted a senior IWCC member to report inappropriate behaviour.
Background
The woman alleged that after reaching out to Pratik Shah on Instagram for work, their conversation escalated and he solicited a nude picture.
"The girl panicked and reached out to someone senior, who alerted IWCC. A senior member of IWCC reached out to him on WhatsApp and called him out, warning him that this was not acceptable behaviour. He apologized and said it was a one-off incident that won't happen again. This was the investigation that happened, and it was made known that IWCC was cognizant of his behaviour," the source told THR.
Abhinav Singh also shared testimonies on Instagram from several women who alleged that Shah's conversations often crossed into "sexual" and "creepy" territory, going beyond flirtation.
Shah was accused of either sending unsolicited nude pictures or soliciting them. Abhinav Singh claimed, via Instagram, that over 20 women had reached out to him, calling Shah a "predator."
In A Nutshell
Cinematographer Pratik Shah has been accused of inappropriate and emotionally abusive behaviour by filmmaker Abhinav Singh, based on testimonies from over 20 women. Allegations include soliciting nudes and sending unsolicited explicit messages. Shah, who recently attended Cannes with Homebound, has since deactivated his Instagram account.