Veteran Bollywood actor Nana Patekar, accused of sexually harassing his co-star Tanushree Dutta a decade ago on the sets of the film Horn OK Please, on Saturday found support from unexpected quarters: farm widows of Maharashtra.
The Vidarbha Farm Widows Association staged a demonstration at Pandharkavada village, demanding an end to "the victimization of our brother Nana Patekar." The women raised slogans in favor of Patekar and said that Dutta is "unnecessarily defaming Patekar", a 'father-figure' who has been helping these women whose husbands committed suicides due to agrarian crisis. They also burnt photos and an effigy of Tanushree.
Last month, former Bollywood actress Tanushree Dutta accused Nana Patekar of harassing her on the sets of their 2008 film "Horn Ok Pleassss". She said she had raised her voice then too, but that was suppressed by people in powerful positions. In 2008, at a press conference to respond to the allegation, Nana had said that he was highly surprised at the charges by the actress, who he said was "my daughter's age."
Since Tanushree Dutta has come out with her allegations, many Bollywood celebrities have come out in support of the actress including, Farhan Akhtar, Priyanka Chopra, Twinkle Khanna and others. Tanushree Dutta opened up on her alleged sexual harassment episode of ten years ago while talking to Zoom TV. She even alleged that the director of the film did nothing to comfort her, in fact, goons were called to vandalize her vanity when she refused to shoot further.
Now Tanushree has even filed a written complaint against the actor and Mumbai Police has started looking into it. On the other hand, Nana Patekar has recently wrapped up the Jaisalmer schedule of his upcoming film Housefull 4. While returning to Mumbai, media questioned him about the allegations laid upon him by Tanushree Dutta. He refused to take any questions at Jaisalmer airport. However, on reaching Mumbai, he said, “Whatever I had to say, I said 10 years back. What is a lie, is a lie. I’ll hold a press conference soon.”
(With IANS inputs)
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