Tanushree Dutta’s accusations of sexual harassment and intimidation by Nana Patekar took the entire Bollywood by storm. Many big celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan evaded answering this pressing issue but many like Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar, Richa Chadha, Swara Bhasker, Twinkle Khanna, Vir Das, Parineeti Chopra and Renuka Shahane chose to show their support and solidarity towards Tanushree. However, by and large, the fraternity is still silent on the matter.
Her allegations and disappointment are not only with her perpetrators but also with the Bollywood fraternity. In a recent interview given to a leading daily, Tanushree said, “You lose confidence in the fraternity. Today people are coming forward, but even the silence of some of these biggies is deafening. Are they afraid some of their dark secrets will also be revealed if they come out? You can judge the kind of people who have come out in support. You can tell their character. The ones who don't come out have got much to hide. That's why they don't want to comment. They want just to pretend and wish it to go away,” she says before adding, “But it isn’t going anywhere.”
She further added, “Even after the harassment, I could have continued doing films. I had a lot of offers. But it’s disheartening to see the response from the industry. These people were still working and pretending like they didn't see it. Then you tend to lose confidence,”
Tanushree’s allegations have been refuted by Nana. Choreographer Ganesh Acharya also dismissed the allegations but conceded that there were some altercations due to which Tanushree left the film set and subsequently left the film as well. However, Tanushree’s claims have been seconded by senior journalist Janice Sequiera and assistant director Shyni Shetty who were present on the sets on that fateful day in 2008. Tanushree has also found support from Hollywood actress Freida Pinto, who shared a powerful message on her Instagram.
