Nana Patekar cancels press conference called to respond to Tanushree Dutta's allegations

Veteran actor Nana Patekar was scheduled to hold a press conference today (8 October) to speak on the allegations made against him by actress Tanushree Dutta. The actress has accused him of alleged sexual misconduct during the shoot of director Rakesh Sarang’s Horn OK Pleassss in 2008.

However, the press conference has been postponed. The actor’s son, Malhar Patekar, issued a statement to the media last night and apologised for the inconvenience caused. “Sorry to be messaging at this hour, just wanted to inform that there's no press conference tomorrow. Please pass on the message to your colleagues in the media. Will let you know about the further proceedings soon,” the statement read.

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Last week, during an interaction with Navbharat Times, a Hindi daily, Patekar had said he will hold a press conference in Mumbai on 7 or 8 October. “I am shooting in Jaisalmer and as soon as I am back in Mumbai on the 7 or 8 of October, I will hold a press conference in Mumbai, where you can ask me anything you want. I want to look into the camera and answer every question. You can ask me whatever you want to know about this. I have no reason to hide,” he had said.

The actor returned to Mumbai on Saturday (6 October). He was mobbed by the media while leaving from the Jodhpur airport, but the actor didn’t respond to any questions. When he was questioned by the media after landing in Mumbai, he said, “I have answered this 10 years ago. What is lie is a lie.”