The demise of legendary actor Nana Patekar, who passed away on Thursday early morning, also revived the controversy around him and Tanushree Dutta, where the latter had alleged Nana of sexual harassment on the sets of Horn ‘Ok’ Pleassss (2009), a film which she later walked out of. On Thursday, Tanushree refused to address the subject of Nana Patekar’s demise, and instead went on to describe him as ‘evil dead.’ On Friday, AICWA condemned Tanushree Dutta for her choice of words.
Taking to their official Instagram page, AICWA president Suresh Shyamlal Gupta said in a video statement, “Tanushree Dutta used ‘evil dead’ words for Nana Patekar, which AICWA criticizes in harsh words. It reflects Tanushree’s mindset. Nana Patekar was a respected citizen. He worked as a social worker. He won the Padma Shri Award. Today, the entire country is in shock after his death. On other hand, Tanu Sri Dutta for cheap publicity, used such words — which no one ever did in the entire history of Indian film industry.”
Further criticising the actor, Suresh added, “We had to speak because when someone uses such words about someone after their death, it is very disheartening for everyone, be it his family, people of the country, or the film industry. Today, you have put a blot on the film industry. I am shocked to admit that you are a part of our industry. This is not the culture of our film industry. This is your culture, Mr. Dutta. And AICWA again strongly opposes these words.”
Earlier on Thursday, Tanushree had stated in an Instagram post, “I have heard the news. Today is my work day. I am going to Lucknow for an event and I want to focus on that. 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.” 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, adding, “Definitely condolences to the family.”
In 2018, Tanushree had revived the sexual harassment allegations, subsequently filing a police complaint 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. Later, Patekar denied the allegations while speaking to The Lallantop, where he said he was not angry about Tanushree’s accusations because the incident she described “had not happened.”
