Cameraman admits damaging Tanushree Dutta's car after her father allegedly broke his camera

In the midst of the controversy involving Nana Patekar and Tanushree Dutta is another story dating back to that infamous day in 2008. A video of angry men damaging Dutta's car had gone viral then and has resurfaced now.

Earlier, it was believed that the men in the video were goons from a party that Patekar has been known to be close to, but it now turns out that the men were media personnel.

Pawan Bharadwaj, who was a senior cameraman with the Hindi news channel Sahara Samay at the time, clarified that the incident did not involve hired goons.

Speaking to Cinestaan.com, Bharadwaj said, “Most of the media is only showing that video [of him and some others damaging Dutta’s car], but what happened before that is not being shown."

According to Bharadwaj, Tanushree Dutta's father broke a camera. "I don't know what transpired between Dutta and Nana Patekar," he said, "but we were just doing our job. His father snatched my camera and broke it. He even pulled my and my [female] reporter’s hair. They tried to escape but we stopped them. What happened then was done purely out of rage.”

Despite the incident, Bharadwaj insisted matters were resolved between them. "It was we [Sahara Samay] who arranged for a Mercedes car for Dutta to go back home. They used our car for four months. Till date, she has not filed a complaint against me or said anything against us. Such incidents happen in the industry. Two months later, she had come to our studios and given an interview on the incident with Nana Patekar.” 

In a long note posted online by former Aaj Tak journalist Janice Sequeira, after the alleged misbehaviour by Patekar, Dutta locked herself in her vanity van, which then came under attack by some "goons". 

Asked about this incident, Bharadwaj denied any knowledge of it. “What happened between Nana Patekar and Tanushree Dutta, I don’t know," he said. "I just wanted to clarify why we acted in a certain way after her father broke my camera.” 

Meanwhile, Patekar has threatened to file a defamation suit against Dutta if she does not apologize for her allegations. “We are in the process of sending a legal notice to Tanushree Dutta as she has made false allegations," the actor's lawyer Rajendra Shirodkar said.

We contacted Patekar’s son Malhar who refused to say anything, arguing that it was not right for anyone else to comment on the matter. "Just have a bit of patience, that's it, that's all we ask," Malhar Patekar said. "Eventually you will know everything. It would be wrong of us [his mother Neelkanti and him] to comment on anybody's behalf. You will get to know everything from Saheb himself soon.”

Patekar is currently shooting in Jaisalmer for Sajid Khan’s Housefull 4.