Ganesh Acharya says female choreographer's allegations of harassment are 'false and baseless'; files complaint

A 33-year-old woman had filed a complaint against dancer and choreographer Ganesh Acharya of reportedly depriving her of work and demanding commission for getting her work projects. Acharya has now lodged a counter NC (non-cognisable offence) against her. In a statement to The Times of India, he claimed that the allegations were “false and baseless.” The complainant had further alleged that Acharya, who is also the General Secretary of Indian Film and Television Choreographers Association (IFTCA), forced her to watch adult videos. Since she did not agree to his terms, she alleged that Acharya got her IFTCA membership suspended and issued a letter to choreographers instructing them not to work with her. The woman claimed that she was attacked by Acharya’s teammates on his instructions when she reached at a meeting of IFTCA to put forward her points following her suspension. [caption id=“attachment_7967121” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Ganesh Acharya. Image from Twitter[/caption] Acharya said that he did not know the female choreographer but had worked with her in 2007. He refuted the allegations of assault saying that he had left the shoot before the altercation took place. “The decision to expel a member is taken after everyone’s consent, and she was expelled owing to her crude and unflattering remarks on dance masters. I am against the practice of commission and don’t work with coordinators, so why will I demand commission from her? Disgruntled by the termination of her membership, she sent letters and notices to IFTCA and its members making false and frivolous allegations of not letting her work and harassing her. However, in these alleged complaints, there was no mention of her latest cooked-up story of porn videos being shown to her. Her accusations are false and baseless," he added. Acharya’s lawyer Ravi Suryawanshi told TOI that they had filed an NC but also a complaint of defamation against the female choreographer at Mumbai’s Oshiwara station. A complaint at Amboli station has been filed against her for reporting a false incident.