It Doesn’t Matter When Someone Is Speaking Out: Tanushree on Nana

Has the #MeToo movement finally arrived in Bollywood?

Nana Patekar and Tanushree Dutta. 

(Photo courtesy: Facebook)

Actor Tanushree Dutta is again vocal about being harassed in Bollywood and has accused actor Nana Patekar of wanting to touch her inappropriately and having insisted on shooting an intimate song sequence on the sets of Horn 'Ok' Pleassss in 2008.

Dutta told ANI in an interview how she was allegedly harassed by Patekar, and when she raised an alarm over it, they were ignored:

“Nana Patekar is a pawn in this entire scenario. Of course I want the industry to ban these people, just to set an example... But my fight is not just against Nana Patekar or Ganesh Acharya. They work bindaas like nothing has happened. I want them to suffer the consequences of course, but it’s not just about Nana Patekar and me. It’s about creating that awareness in our society that whenever a girl speaks up, people try to shut her up, make allegations against her character.... Why is it so difficult to hear it and respond to it?”

Tanushree Dutta, Actor

Dutta added: “He was very aggressive, and was pushing me around and misbehaving with me on the set. My complaint was not heard. He also demanded to do an intimate step with me even though it was my solo dance. It was total harassment.”

She also reacted to choreographer Ganesh Acharya, who she has accused of being complicit with Patekar, refuting the allegations. “He is a bloody liar and a two-faced person. He got the job because of me and he decided to back-stab me, of course he will support him (Nana Patekar) as he was equally complicit in the harassment,” she said, and added how MNS goons were called to vandalise her car and scare her out.

Dutta has also named the film’s producer Sami Siddiqui and director Rakesh Sarang for turning a deaf ear to her complaints against Patekar. “It doesn’t matter when someone is speaking out. The fact that they are is what matters and people should hear it out,” the actor said when quizzed about why she is being vocal now again after so many years - the actor did lash out at Patekar back in 2008.

The former Miss India Universe said she feels let down that the entire industry has continued to work with those whom she named. "Ganesh Acharya rolls out songs every year with top stars, Nana has worked with stars like Akshay Kumar and Rajinikanth and the producer and director have continued to work. They were not the ones who went through the trauma of being mobbed by goons, or being called names," she said.

“I faced a lot of criticism, slut shaming and dense attitude... For 10 years I have been shamed and the narrative has been spun like ‘Oh there is a respectable actor and there is this slutty heroine who put these allegations on him and because she did this horrendous thing she was kicked out of the industry’. People have been arrogantly carrying forward this narrative.”

Dutta also shared how the incident and the apathy of the industry that followed scared her off the movies. She feared that such incidents would be repeated, and built a life for herself in the US.

“It is now an awareness initiative on my part”, she said.

(Inputs: ANI, IANS)