ENTERTAINMENT
As the accused actor & director seek apologies, Tanushree Dutta says #MeToo didn’t take off in India due to its excruciatingly slow justice system, which leaves the survivor broken, and open to further harassment by the perpetrator
Actor Tanushree Dutta has been slapped with two legal notices by actor Nana Patekar and filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri, whom she has accused of sexual harassment. Here are latest developments in the controversy.
There’s a daily update on the Tanushree DuttaNana Patekar controversy, coupled with allegations that Tanushree had also levelled against director Vivek Agnihotri. The story so far:
‘2 TRIED BREAKING INTO MY HOME’
Tanushree has issued an official statement confirming that she has received notices from Nana and Vivek. It reads, “..This is the price you pay for speaking out against harassment, humiliation and injustice in India. Both Nana’s and Vivek Agnihotri’s teams are on a smear campaign against me by constructing outright lies and misinformation on social media platforms and other public platforms… Today while I was at home and the police personnel posted outside my home were on a lunch break, two unnamed suspicious individuals tried getting into our home uninvited but were stopped just in time by security personnel in the building. Later the police came back from their break and secured the premises again. Violent threats are being issued against me by the MNS party. Im being threatened to be dragged into the court and legal system of India which we all know can keep a woman and her supporters as well as media silent on the pretext of “matter subjudice” but can also further be used to harass her and drain her out financially. “Tareek pe Tareek pe tareek” and the dawn of justice never arrives.. False witnesses supporting perpetrators conjured up to further weaken her case… This is the age-old saga of survivors in our nation. I walked away once from the same environment that was created for me 10 years ago.. Found God, found my healing, found my peace and a new life in United States of America. And now I stand to lose this new life too if I allow myself to get embroiled in the court system of India. And you wanted to know why the me too movement hasn’t happened in India...This is why...”
CHOCOLATE’S AD DEFENDS VIVEK
Vivek Agnihotri has been accused of asking Tanushree to strip on the set of Chocolate to give cues to her co-actors. His lawyer has denied the allegation.
But a man claiming to be the associate director of the film, Sattyajit Gazmer, has posted on Facebook that the entire episode didn’t pan out the way Tanushree described it. Excerpts:
“Tanushree has major mood swings but she was very photogenic and also is Miss India. This convinced the producers… Vivek sir (also) told me that she is a very sweet girl.. She was absolutely fresh and had no idea about camera or technical things. Vivek sir asked his wife Pallavi ji to coach her in acting and technical aspect… On the first day of the shoot we realised that with five trained stars its going to be very difficult to shoot with Tanushree because she didn’t understand instructions .. Vivekji made me incharge of Tanu as I knew her from before. Anyone who has worked with Vivek Ji knows he doesn’t give directions directly.”
He added, “Tanushree had a bad habit of disappearing in her van and not come out for long time for reasons best known to her…Tanushree was taking too many takes so the entire AD department was hassled. In the song Tanushree was supposed to be wet under a water leakage from a pipe. I appointed two of my lady assistants and lady costume director and her lady assistant to be around Tanu and give her bathrobe immediately after each take... When we called Tanushree she did her rehearsals in the bathrobe… got ready for the shot one of my assistants asked her to take off the bathrobe. She asked why should she if it’s Irrfan’s close up. The assistant tried to explain to her.. Then I was called and I explained to her… In fact Suniel (Shetty) sir sarcastically asked if he can give the cue. What was actually a jibe in good spirit by Suniel sir is being used as if there was something wrong with our command.” Tanushree couldn’t be reached for comment.
You wanted to know why the me too movement hasn’t happened in India...This is why...
TANUSHREE DUTTA,
ACTOR