With Tanushree Dutta's sexual harassment allegations on veteran actor Nana Patekar catching the wind, many of our A-listers have come forward to support the fellow actress. As the who's and who of Bollywood are standing up in the support of the former beauty queen and as a step towards creating a safe working environment, actress Renuka Shahane, a strong opinionated woman extended her support to her and, wrote an open letter addressing all her concerns revolving around this issue.
The actress, who admitted to having never worked with either Nana nor Tanushree, mentioned a lot of points including discomfort, political interference and collateral damage revolving around the issue and the victim.
"Nana Patekar is known as much for his volatile temper as he is for his phenomenal talent or his social service towards farmers. Many men & women from the film industry have faced his wrath. I have never worked with either Nana or Tanushree & neither was I a part of "Horn Ok Pleassss". But there are some points in Tanushree's story that resonate with me. I'd like to share them:
1) Tanushree made it clear that she was uncomfortable with a certain step in the dance and did not like Nana's gesture/touch during that step. Even if Nana's intentions might not have been to molest her, couldn't he, the director and the choreographer come up with a step that made her feel comfortable? Is the workplace meant for terrorizing people or about working in a healthy atmosphere? Would the film have suffered earth shatteringly if the steps were changed so that an actor felt more comfortable? Shayad yehi fark hai "beti jaisi" or asli beti hone mein!
2) As if four full grown men weren't enough against one girl, allegedly some members of a political party were called in to intimidate Tanushree and her parents! Can you believe this? Would this behavior, to force a girl uncomfortable with a dance step, really make Maharashtra proud? Isn't the pride of Maharashtra enshrined in respecting women and making it safer for women to live life? Talk about ironies!
Recommended Read: Sonam, Parineeti, Twinkle speak up in support of Tanushree Dutta
3) And now let's come to the aftermath. Whose career did this incident affect? None of the men had a difficult time. Their ego had won! The men got all the support that any industry ( not just the film industry) gives to powerful men. The only person who was traumatized was Tanushree. The scars have still not healed. Please do the math.
P.S: A little birdie from the set told me that the great producer of that particular film had many legal issues about non-payment of dues & even talk of being funded by the underworld. But hey hey hey that's okay I guess. He must have been impeccably honest. After all, he was upholding the "pride of Maharashtra"! Right???
Catch the whole message here:
https://www.facebook.com/renukash/posts/10156118196291656
Along with Renuka, many others like Sonam Kapoor, Twinkle Khanna, Richa Chaddha and Parineeti Chopra have raised their voices to support Tanushree, who greenlight the MeToo Movement in Bollywood, speaking up 10 years after she faced the sexual abuse on her film's sets.
