Tanushree Dutta says she walked out of the project because of Nana Patekar.
Actress Tanushree Dutta trended all of Tuesday after she opened up about a 10-year-old controversy, in which she alleged that she was harassed by an actor on the sets of 2009 film Horn 'Ok' Pleassss and now, for the first time, she pinned the blame on actor Nana Patekar (who headlined the cast of the film). After her explosive interview to Zoom TV, later in the day, Tanushree Dutta told news agency ANI that the veteran actor was "aggressive" with her on the sets of the 2009 film: "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," ANI quoted her as saying.
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: Actor Tanushree Dutta on Nana Patekar pic.twitter.com/V0ti7kZIhN
— ANI (@ANI) September 26, 2018
Tanushree Dutta reportedly briefly joined the sets of Horn 'Ok' Pleassss for a song. She eventually opted out of the film citing Nana Patekar's misbehaviour as reason. She also named choreographer Ganesh Acharya as part of her allegations:
He (choreographer Ganesh Acharya) 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: Tanushree Dutta pic.twitter.com/7EYoYrVSTF
— ANI (@ANI) September 26, 2018
In her interview to Zoom TV previously, she had said that even though the industry insiders allegedly knew about Nana Patekar's reportedly indecent behaviour with women, no one spoke about it. "Everyone knows about Nana Patekar that he has always been disrespectful towards women. People in the industry know about his in the background 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," she told Zoom TV.
On Tuesday, when asked about the impact of #MeToo movement in the Indian film industry, the Aashiq Banaya Aapne actress told News18 that #MeToo movement won't reach India until everyone acknowledges what happened with her a decade ago. She added that though people spoke about the controversy, nobody took action.
Taking Akshay Kumar and Rajinikanth's names, Tanushree said that there's no hope for a better work environment if A-listers do not boycott actors like Nana Patekar. She said: "Akshay Kumar has made few films with Nana Patekar in last eight years and Rajinikanth also recently worked with him (in Kaala)... If such big stars will keep working with these culprits then there's no hope for any movement to happen."
"Everyone has gossiped about this but they've never spoken. People with this kind of character speak like this against the kind of character that I have because they say she does glamourous roles so must be glamorous and all. Behind the back, they are so dirty. When you are in the industry you hear so many stories about these actors. But these things never take surface because they are PR packaged very well. They will give some money to some poor farmers. How much they do and how much they don't know, no one knows. But all this is just for show," she added.
Tanushree Dutta debuted in 2005 film Aashiq Banaya Aapne, co-starring Emraan Hashmi and Sonu Sood. She starred in films like Dhol, Good Boy, Bad Boy and Apartment, which was her last onscreen appearance.
