Former Miss India Universe and actress Tanushree Dutta who had initiated India’s very own #MeToo campaign way back in 2008 is now back in the industry and has opened the floodgates by accusing veteran actor Nana Patekar of sexual harassment and named Ganesh Acharya, Sami Siddiqui and Rakesh Sarang as the accomplices in the act on the sets of the film Horn Ok Pleassss. A few actors like Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar, Richa Chadha, Swara Bhasker lent their support to her for speaking out. Now, Tanushree has gone ahead to relate another incident where director Vivek Agnihotri also misbehaved with her but she was supported and helped by Suniel Shetty and Irrfan.
Tanushree accused Agnihotri of inappropriate behaviour on the sets of the 2005 film, Chocolate: Deep Dark Secrets. In an interview given to a leading daily the actress recalled that Agnihotri commanded her to strip and dance in front of an actor to give him cues for his close-up shot. She said, “This guy (Vivek Agnihotri) wanted me to give cues to an actor (Irrfan Khan). It was an actor’s close-up. It was not even my shot. I was not even going to be in the shot. It was the actor’s close-up and he had to just look at something and give expressions. This director, he told me ‘jao jaake kapde utaar ke naacho, usko cues do (go strip and dance, give (Irrfan) cues’.”
Tanushree further added, “The male actor had to shoot back at the director saying, 'I don't need her to take off her coat and dance for me to give facial expressions. This was Irrfan. I really appreciated that he actually spoke up like that because it was his close-up shot. I'm not in the frame. He had to look at me and give some expressions. Why do I have to dance in front of him for him to give expressions on his close-up shot. This director tells me 'jao jaake kapde utaar ke naacho'. I was shocked!"
She further said, “The actor was horrified. And, because he had done some work, he could say something. He just told the director, 'What are you talking about? I can give my closeup. Mujhe acting aati hai'. Suneil Shetty also spoke up. He was also there, he heard it and he got offended by it. He was like, 'Main aayun kya wahaan cues dene ke liye?' Yeah ofcourse, there are good people in the industry. Both, Irrfan Khan and Suniel Shetty spoke up. Suneil scolded that guy."
During an interview, Tanushree said that the fact A-listers like Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar and Shahid Kapoor continue to work with people like Nana is beyond her understanding. Nana on his part has said that he will take legal action against the actress if needed.
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