Tanushree Dutta who started the entire #MeToo movement in India has accused veteran actor Nana Patekar of sexually harassing her on the sets of the 2008 film Horn OK Pleasss. She had alleged that the actor harassed her and wanted to do an intimate and vulgar step with her in her solo dance sequence for the film. Tanushree also alleged that when she brushed his advances, Nana called in goons from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) who intimidated and attacked the actress and her parents on the sets.
In an interview given to BBC, the actress said that when she walked off the set she was labelled unprofessional, crazy, drama queen, tantrum queen. Talking about the intimate dance step that Nana wanted her to do, she said, “It was really creepy because he had to put his hands all over me". She said, "The trauma of the incident stayed for years."
Tanushree says in the video that she was so traumatized by the incident that she chose to stay away from films and lost out on many lucrative offers. Her claims have been supported by senior journalist Janice Sequeira and Shyni Shetty who was the assistant director on the film Horn Ok Pleasss. Nana has refuted all claims of harassment but Tanushree has filed a police complaint against him and three others.
[caption id="attachment_140340" align="aligncenter" width="810"] Nana Patekar[/caption]
Tanushree’s bold stand has given a lot of women courage who are now coming out and naming their sexual perpetrators. Alok Nath, Vikas Bahl, Rajat Kapoor, Subhash Ghai, Kailash Kher, Sajid Khan, Anu Malik and many others have been named and shamed by several women.