Bollywood: Aaliyah Kashyap speaks out on father Anurag Kashyap’s MeToo allegations

Aaliyah Kashyap, the daughter of filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, says that it gave her anxiety last year when her father was accused of sexual assault.

In September 2020, actress Payal Ghosh claimed that the ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ filmmaker assaulted her when she went to his house to discuss work with him. Ghosh first tweeted the allegations and then later filed an FIR against him. Anurag made a statement denying the claims and was supported by many of his Bollywood co-workers.

Speaking on the web show ‘Invite Only Season 2’, 20-year-old Aaliyah said her father was misrepresented.

“The #MeToo claims bothered me a lot. The hate doesn’t get to me, it is the misrepresentation of his character that bothers me. People think he is a terrible man, but ask anyone close to me and they will say that he’s the biggest softy teddy bear you’ll ever meet,” she said.

“This is what gives me anxiety, and not really the hate. I know that whatever hate I get for him is just from people who don’t have anything better to do with their lives. My dad also has been trying to make more of an effort to keep his things away from me because he doesn’t want it to make my anxiety worse,” Aaliyah added.

Aaliyah has be vocal about her struggles with mental health and online bullying.

In February, she faced a barrage of “vile, degrading and disgusting comments” following a photo shoot where she wore lingerie. Taking to Instagram, the young social media celebrity slammed her haters.

“I have tried to ignore the harassment and shrug it off but the truth is that we need to speak about it because these kinds of comments contribute to the rape culture that affects all women in India (and the rest of the world) in one way or the other,” wrote Aaliyah.