Actor Tanushree Dutta, who had accused Nana Patekar of sexual harassment in 2018, has reacted to the veteran actor’s death.
Tanushree put up a video on her Instagram stories stating that she had “heard the news” and she will be giving her reaction when she has processed it.
The actor also seemed reluctant in the video to comment on the issue. “Maine suna hai. I have heard the news. I just… today is my work day. I am going to Lucknow for an event and I want to focus on that,” she said.
“What an odd day for all this to happen because I am doing a very big event in Lucknow and it was pretty important to me. I had my entire day planned out to do these lives and post content. And now I am worried that in the evening, all the media is going to be interested in this…evil dead,” she added.
After a pause, Tanushree said that she would comment on the actor’s death once she had decided how she wanted to respond.
“I will give my reaction once I figure out what kind of reaction I should have,” she said. “Definitely condolences to the family.”
In 2008, Tanushree had accused Patekar of sexual harassment on the sets of Horn ‘Ok’ Pleasss (2009) in which she did a song.
She alleged that the veteran actor had insisted on adding inappropriate and intimate dance steps despite her objections.
A decade later, in 2018, Tanushree revived the allegations, which went on to become one of the key moments that fuelled India’s #MeToo movement. She subsequently filed a police complaint at against Patekar, choreographer Ganesh Acharya, filmmaker Rakesh Sarang and producer Samee Siddiqui.
In 2019, the Mumbai Police filed a B-summary report, effectively closing the case, citing a lack of sufficient evidence to substantiate the allegations. The criminal case was subsequently closed.
Later, Patekar denied the allegations. Speaking to The Lallantop, he said he was not angry about Tanushree’s accusations because the incident she described “had not happened.”
“I knew whatever was being said didn’t happen. I didn’t get angry. I am not bothered by it. Nothing happened. I don’t know what it was about. If something had happened, I would have told. Suddenly, someone says you did this. What do I say, I didn’t do it? What else can I say?” he said.