Days after accusing actor Nana Patekar of sexual harassment, Bollywood actress Tanushree Dutta has made fresh allegations against filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri for inappropriate behaviour.
The 34-year-old actor has alleged that Agnihotri, during the shoot of his directorial debut Chocolate: Deep Dark Secrets, asked her to remove her clothes to help co-star Irrfan get a scene right.
“This guy (Vivek Agnihotri) wanted me to give cues to an actor (Irrfan Khan). It was not even my shot. It was the actor’s close-up and he had to just look at something and give expressions. This director, he told me ‘jao jaake kapde utaar ke naacho, usko cues do‘,” Tanushree told DNA.
Thankfully, Irrfan and Suneil Shetty (who was also present at the set) came to her rescue and reprimanded the director for his inappropriate behaviour.
“…The actor (Irrfan) was horrified. And, because he had done some work, he could say something. He just told the director, ‘What are you talking about? I can give my closeup. ‘Mujhe acting aati hai‘” she told the daily.
A visibly ‘offended’ Suneil Shetty also spoke up and asked the director whether he should come to give cues, recalled the former Miss India Universe, adding that there are indeed good people in the industry.
Agnihotri has lately been creating waves on social media for his strong support for right-wing ideology. He has often got into spat with the members of the film fraternity. Agnihotri was recently forced to take down an abusive tweet against actor Swara Bhasker after microblogging site Twitter locked the filmmaker’s account for violating its rules.
There is a stoic silence in Bollywood over the sexual harassment allegations made by Dutta on Nana Patekar during the shoot of Horn OK Please in 2008. Barring the likes of Farhan Akhtar, Priyanka Chopra, most of the A list actors have either downplayed the incident or refused to comment.
This thread is very telling. @janiceseq85 was there at the time of the incident being debated today. Even when #TanushreeDutta had career concerns to keep quiet 10 years ago she did not & her story hasn’t changed now. Her courage should be admired, not her intention questioned. https://t.co/Ola3MNdmtS
— Farhan Akhtar (@FarOutAkhtar) September 27, 2018
Agreed..the world needs to #BelieveSurviviors https://t.co/ia82UsCkkq
— PRIYANKA (@priyankachopra) September 28, 2018
Please read this thread before judging or shaming #TanushreeDutta a working environment without harassment and intimidation is a fundamental right and by speaking up this brave woman helps pave the way towards that very goal for all of us! https://t.co/f8Nj9YWRvE
— Twinkle Khanna (@mrsfunnybones) September 28, 2018
#IBelieveYouTanushreeDutta https://t.co/slMxDwcGWx
— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) September 27, 2018
It hurts to be #TanushreeDutta rn. To be alone, questioned. No woman wants publicity that opens the floodgates of trolling and insensitivity.What happened to her on set was intimidation.Her only fault was she didn’t back down-takes a special courage to be #TanushreeDutta.
— TheRichaChadha (@RichaChadha) September 27, 2018
During the trailer launch of Thugs of Hindostan, Amitabh Bachchan, who has been quite tactful in evading tricky questions, refused to comment on the controversy.
“My name is neither Tanushree nor Nana Patekar, how can I answer your question,” said the 75-year-old actor, news agency ANI reports.
Aamir Khan was more diplomatic in his response.
“Without knowing the veracity of something, it’s not right for me to comment on it. But whenever something like this does happen, it’s a sad thing. Whether this has happened, that is for people to investigate,” Khan said.
Superstar Salman Khan also dodged the question claiming his unawareness about the incident.
“I am not aware of this. Let me know and understand what is happening. I have been here and I am sure that the legal team will handle that. We will see what is going on. I am not aware of it, the actor said as reported by Pinkvilla.
Mirror Now anchor Faye DSouza expressed her disappointment over reluctance of the members of the industry to speak on the matter.
Really disappointed that no one , NO ONE, from the film industry is willing to talk about sexual harassment and the accusation made by #TanushreeDutta
— Faye DSouza (@fayedsouza) September 27, 2018
So far, two women – a journalist and an assistant director- who were present at the set corroborated much of what Dutta alleged to have transpired on that day.
In a Twitter thread, journalist Janice Sequeira revealed that she had been on set that day and while she didn’t witness Mr Patekar’s alleged inappropriate behaviour itself, she saw what happened after. When she arrived on set, shooting had been stalled. She also confirmed Dutta’s version of the story that she watched Dutta storm off set into her van, which was then surrounded by goons banging on the door. She also saw Ms Dutta’s car being attacked.
“Everything in this thread happened exactly the way it’s written,” Shyni Shetty, who was the assistant director of the film tweeted yesterday referring to Ms Sequeira’s posts, “I was proud of what you did then, Tanushree Dutta, and I’m proud of you today.”
“While the rehearsals were going on that day, I could see that Tanushree was very uncomfortable. She was uncomfortable with the steps and the way the song was being rehearsed. Ofcourse, she didn’t scream and shout on set, she went to her vanity van very quietly…” she wrote in a post on Firstpost.com
“Soon she came back on set and we thought, okay, now the shoot will resume. But in less than half an hour she stormed out of the set, went back into her vanity van and shut her door. By this time we were convinced something had happened. As she tried to leave the set, there was a mob going crazy and they broke the window of her car. She was stuck there for 15-20 minutes unable to do anything. Finally she left,” she added.
Patekar has categorically denied the allegations made by Dutta and said that he may take legal action against the actress.
Copyright © 2024 IE Online Media Services Private Ltd. All Rights Reserved.