NANA PATEKAR SERVES DUTTA LEGAL NOTICE
Actor says he can’t do anything about what people say about him
Actor Nana Patekar on Thursday dismissed accusations of sexual harassment by actress Tanushree Dutta.
“What can I do about what one says? You tell me. What does it mean by sexual harassment?” Patekar told Mirror Now in his first response since the allegations reemerged this week a decade after Dutta first spoke out about it.
Dutta recently spoke about her experience working with the actor in the film Horn Ok Pleassss in an interview.
“We were on the set and there were 200 people sitting in front of us. What I can say?” Patekar said.
On the allegation that there’s a different face to the Indian National Awardwinning actor, Patekar said: “Let anyone say anything. I will continue to do in my life what I have been doing.”
Dutta’s allegation is being seen as one that will likely kickstart Bollywood’s own #MeToo movement.
She has hit out at Patekar and named choreographer Ganesh Acharya, director Rakesh Sarang and producer Sami Siddiqui as accomplices in the harassment she faced.
In 2008, at a press conference to address the “indecent behaviour” allegation by Dutta, Patekar had said he was surprised at the charges by the actress, who he said was “my daughter’s age”.
The former beauty queen has said her voice was suppressed back then by Patekar’s powerful position.
REACTIONS
Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan on Thursday dodged a question about the news, steering clear from the row.
At a film’s trailer launch, a journalist asked Bachchan and actor Aamir Khan to share their views.
“Neither is my name Tanushree, nor is it Nana Patekar. How do I answer this question?” Bachchan replied in Hindi.
Khan said: “Without knowing the veracity of something or the details of something, I don’t think I can comment. It is not right for me. But I would like to say that whenever something like this does happen, it’s really sad. Now if it has happened or not it is for people to investigate.” —