Cinematographer Pratik Shah recently came under the radar when several allegations about his inappropriate behaviour surfaced online. He was accused by filmmaker Abhinav Singh, based on testimonies from over 20 women. Pratik had also asked for nudes or offered to send them, claimed Singh after victims reached out to him via Instagram.
Now after a day of such claims being made, Karan Johar's Dharma Productions has issued an official statement to offer a perspective to the several statements making the rounds.
What
- Homebound cinematographer Pratik Shah was accused of abusive, emotional and inappropriate behaviour.
- A day after the viral accusation was made by Abhinav Singh, the production house has now released an official statement.
- It reads, "At Dharma Productions we have a zero-tolerance policy against inappropriate behaviour and sexual harassment towards any individual working with us in any capacity, and we treat sexual harassment cases very seriously. Mr Pratik Shah was a freelancer on the project Homebound and was working on it for a limited period. His engagement with us has been completed. During this limited period, our internal committee for POSH didn't receive any complaints against him from any cast or crew on our film Homebound."
The Controversy
Pratik Shah has now deactivated his social media account after a severe backlash.
Abhinav Singh, who has helmed short films like Sita starring Shriya Pilgaonkar and Amazon Mini TV's Yatri Kripya Dhyan De, featuring Shweta Basu Prasad and Shaheer Sheikh, called Shah incredibly manipulative and abusive. The latter highlighted how he had received several testimonies from women.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, a source close to the Indian Women Cinematographers' Collective (IWCC) also highlighted that Pratik Shah had come under scrutiny about four years ago. This took place after a young cinematographer contacted a senior IWCC member to report inappropriate behaviour.
The woman shared her story and claimed that after reaching out to Pratik Shah on Instagram for work, their conversation went from one thing to another, and soon he asked for her nude snaps.
"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 alleged, that over 20 women had reached out to him, calling Shah a "predator."
In A Nutshell
Homebound's cinematographer Pratik Shah attended the Cannes 2025 Film Festival this year for the film's screening. He was accused of unacceptable sexual advances made towards women, asking for their nudes and sending unsolicited explicit messages to them. Dharma Productions, who has produced Homebound, issued an official statement stating that they have a zero-tolerance policy towards such behaviour. They also added that their association with the accused was limited as he was a freelancer on the project.