The Nana Patekar-Tanushree Dutta spat reached a flash point on Sunday with the actress formally lodging a complaint against the senior actor for allegedly subjecting her to sexual harassment during a film shoot eight years ago and Patekar indicating his plans to address a news conference on Monday to rebut the serious charges against him.
Hours after the Patekar’s return from Jaipur in Rajasthan where he was shooting for his upcoming film 'Housefull 4', Tanushree took the battle to the enemy’s camp by lodging the complaint against the senior male actor who she alleged “was grabbing me by the arms and pushing me...when he was touching indecently...I felt very uncomfortable because of his behaviour...I felt he has outraged my modesty.”
Patekar found himself on the defensive, when the media persons buttonholed for his comment on the raging controversy on his arrival in the city from Jaipur on Saturday. "Jo jhooth hai, woh jhooth hai (A lie is a lie)....Dus saal pehle iska jawaab de chuka hoon (I had said this 10 years ago)," Patekar said, as he boarded his car to head to his Lokhandwada residence.
Sources close to Patekar said on Sunday that he planned to address a news conference at Celebration Sports Club at Lokhandwala Complex in north Mumbai at 3 pm on Monday to rebut the charges against him and clarify his stand on the issues raised by Tanushree.
Late on Saturday evening, Tanushree lodged a complaint with the Oshiwara police station against Patekar under sections 354 (Assault or criminal force to women with intent to outrage her modesty), 354-A (Assault or use of criminal force with intent to disrobe her) and section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty o a woman) of Indian Penal Code.
In her complaint, Tanushreee also named choreographer Ganesh Acharya, producer Samee Siddiqui, director Rakesh Sarang and some MNS workers who allegedly damaged her car and pulled her out of her car.
In her complaint, Tanushree alleged that the incident took place on March 26, 2008 during the shooting of a song in the film “Horn Ok Pleaseee” . The entire was to be picturised on the actress, while Patekar had only line in the song. She said that before the shoot, she had made it clear to the producer and director that she would not enact or perform any lewd, vulgar or uncomfortable steps in the particular song.
“On the 4th day of the shoot, 26th March 2008, while shooting was going on, Nana Patekar’s behaviour was inappropriate towards me. He was on the set despite his work in the song being over and he was grabbing me by the arms and pushing me around on the pretext of teaching me how to dance. When he was teaching indecently and unnecessarily, then I felt very uncomfortable because of his behaviour and I felt he has outraged my modesty,” Tanushree alleged.
“He told the choreographer and other junior artists to back away so that he could teach me the dance steps through he was not a choreographer and he was not required during the choreography as per my previous rehearsals,” the actress added.
“After the incident, I was under tremendous shock, I suffered psychological trauma, was unable to take up work, suffered huge monetary losses in crores and therefore I decided to take action through film industry by lodging a written complaint with the Cine and TV Artistes Association. The Association decided the matter and passed the order without considering my complaint for ap0logy,” Tanushree stated in her police complaint.
Actress Shilpa Shetty-undra, who was among the first of the Bollywood personalities to extend support to Tanushree Dutta, once again threw her weight behind the latter for openly sharing her story against the senior actor.
The ‘Hear Me. Love Me.’ host said: ” Women should not feel weak or they shouldn’t blame themselves and rather be strong today. ..We don’t know the nitty-gritties of the incident but it has kick-started a movement. People have suffered. It’s time women wake up and take charge. It shouldn’t be hashtag MeToo, it should be #YouToo, for the men. It’s shouldn’t be the women, cowing down and saying oh #MeToo”.
“In any milieu, actors, entrepreneurs, the working environment should feel safe. That should be a prerequisite. This entire movement which has been initiated by Tanushree Dutta, my heart goes out to her, as a woman and on a human level because something like this was brushed under the carpet,” Shilpa told a news agency.
Earlier, a host of film personalities including Twinkle Khanna, Farhan Akhtar, Priyanka Chopra, Swara Bhasker, Sonam Kapoor, Ayushmann Khurrana and Freida Pinto had openly supported Tanushree in her fight against sexual harassment that she allegedly suffered at the hands of Patekar.
Meanwhile, beleaguered actor Nana Patekar has found support from an unexpected quarters. Hundreds of widows of debt-ridden farmers, who committed suicide in recent years, have rallied behind the actor in his hour of need.
Working under the banner of the Vidarbha Farm Widows Association, the farmers’ widows staged a demonstration at Pandharkavada village in Yavatmal district on Saturday demanding an end to "the victimization of our brother Nana Patekar." The demonstrators made bonfire of an effigy and photographs of Tanushree.
The demonstrators were led by KBC-fame Aparna Malikar and other prominent activists Bharati Pawar, Anju Bhusari, Geeta Rathore, Vandara Gavande, Archana Raut, Kavita Sidam, Ranjana Khadse, Kamal Surpam, Uma Jiddewar, Sheela Mandavgade, Chandrakala Meshram, Poornima Pokulwar, Babita Agarkar, Jyoti Jiddewar, Rama Thamke, Vandana Shende, Ranjana Gurnule and others.
The demonstrators raised slogans in favour of Patekar, who has been helping the farmers’ widows financially through a non-government organisation. They said Dutta is "unnecessarily defaming Patekar - a father-figure -- who has helped the cause of the crisis-hit widows for several years" to help them secure justice.