Tanushree Dutta calls Nana Patekar 'frequent offender' in interview

Actress Tanushree Dutta's return to the spotlight might have surprised quite a few people in the industry. The actress, who faded into obscurity after Jag Mundhra's Apartment (2010), in a recent interview slammed actor Nana Patekar, among others, for being 'disrespectful' towards her and behaving untowardly on the sets of Horn Ok Pleasss (2009). 

In an interview with News18, a news channel, the actress had accused an unnamed actor in 2008 of behaving inappropriately with her while she was appearing in a special dance number in the film Horn Ok Pleasss (2009). The film, directed by Rakesh Sarang, starred Nana Patekar and Muzammil Ibrahim in the lead roles. 

Dutta said that the event shocked her to such an extent that she had to step away from the industry. "It was necessary for me to step back because I also had to heal myself." 

Speaking about the incident, Dutta said, "He was trying all kind of intimidation tactics to rattle me. He was grabbing me by the arms, pushing me around then he would ask the choreographers to move and teach me how to dance, and the next thing I know he wanted to do an intimate sequence with me. It was ridiculous." 

The 34-year-old actress in a recent interview with Zoom Tv said, "Everyone knows about Nana Patekar that he has always been disrespectful towards women. People in the industry know that he has beaten actresses, he has molested them. His behaviour with women has always been crude but no publication has printed anything about it." 

The actress adds in the interview that the actor was not even supposed to be a part of the song. Dutta remarked that her turning down his advances took a violent turn when he called on a political party's goons to smash her car.

She also named director Rakesh Sarang, producer Sami Siddiqui, and choreographer Ganesh Acharya as the other culprits in the incident. 

The actress had reportedly filed a complaint with CINTAA (Cine and Television Artists Association) back in 2008 against Patekar according to a report in Times of India, a daily. 

Despite her coming out with the accusation, the actress remarked that few people in the industry stood up for her. This, Dutta added, is a reason a #MeToo movement might not happen in India. 

The #MeToo movement broke out in Hollywood after accusations against producer Harvey Weinstein and actor Kevin Spacey among others were revealed. The movement saw a number of actresses and producers taking the stand against sexual harrassment that led to the ousting of several high profile members in the industry. 

While a few actresses like Richa Chadha, Swara Bhasker, Radhika Apte and Konkona Sensharma have spoken out, the movement remains on the fringes in Indian film industry. 

Dutta, however, remains skeptical of such a thing in India. The News18 interview quotes the actress saying, "Till the time I’m given justice no movement can start over here. I will keep bringing up this issue every time I’m here because I want to expose the hypocrisy of Bollywood [Hindi cinema] that on one hand you are speaking about women empowerment, but everybody had a stoic silence on what happened with me and they have maintained it even today. In fact, they are not only maintaining the stoic silence but they are also working with the perpetrators."