Netizens React to Alleged Sexual Harasser Sajid Khan Entering Bigg Boss 16

Indians are outraged by the inclusion of the controversial director in the popular show.

Indians were shocked to learn at the grand premier of the popular Indian TV reality show Bigg Boss 16 that the movie director Sajid Khan is one of the new contestants, and netizens are not happy with the creators of the show for inviting the alleged harasser on it.

Before entering the house on Saturday, Sajid Khan shared some insights about his life and said, “For the past four years, I’ve been at home and wasn’t getting that many work opportunities. So when I was invited by Colors, I felt that it was time I should enter the house and learn more about myself”.

The Housefull director mentioned that he has seen lots of ups and downs in life and was at a great low during the last four years.

“You’ve only experienced one drop, the rest are ups,” the host Salman Khan interjected.

“I experienced one great drop,” the notorious director responded.

Big Boss - Salman Khan

He continued, “There is a saying: ‘failure destroys people, but in my case success destroyed me. I had become very arrogant, had back-to-back three hits so I thought I had become infallible, I just couldn’t go wrong with a film. I was issuing arrogant statements, God gave me one tight slap, and Himmatwala flopped. [I] got a little humble, got another slap and after Humshakals came, I hid my face”.

Unfazed by his words, netizens were outraged and even claimed that they would not watch the season.

Here are some reactions by Twitterati:

In the wake of the MeToo movement in India since October 2018, Sajid Khan has been accused of sexual harassment by several female colleagues. The Indian Film and Television Directors’ Association subsequently banned him from directing films but the ban was revoked a year later on 10 December 2019.

 

Although he denied the allegations, Sajid Khan stepped down as the director of Housefull 4 (2019) and was eventually replaced by Farhad Samji, the co-director of Housefull 3 (2016).