"When everything was a lie, why should I be angry?"
Nana Patekar has broken his silence on the sexual harassment allegations made against him by Tanushree Dutta.
In 2018, Tanushree claimed the veteran actor sexually harassed her on the set of the 2009 film Horn Ok Pleassss.
Tanushree was to feature in a special song, which would solely focus on her.
But she claimed Nana began insisting on being in the song.
He apparently even tried to persuade the choreographer of his inclusion in the song.
Tanushree said:
She named those who were part of the project when the harassment took place, saying:
“I want to take names-actor Nana Patekar, producer Sami Siddiqui, director Rakesh Sarang and choreographer Ganesh Acharya.
“When Nana Patekar misbehaved with me, he voiced out that he would an intimate step with me as well in the song, which wasn’t mentioned in my contract.”
Talking about Nana Patekar’s behaviour, she claimed:
“He started his misconduct the very first day. I complained to the producer and director that I am very wary of this man’s attitude towards me.”
She told the production team: “Please tell him to stay away from me. Because he should not be on the set. So why is he on the set? He is grabbing me and trying to teach me the dance steps. What is all this?”
But instead of any action being taken, Tanushree revealed:
“On top of this, Nana Patekar demanded of the team that he wanted to be included in an intimate dance step with me, ‘the girl’.”
She also implied: “Being a new, actress, young actress, whether there is a need or not [in the script], [he can demand to] do an intimate scene with her.”
Tanushree’s allegations sparked India’s MeToo movement.
Nana Patekar has now addressed the allegations, saying that he never got angry because he knew that her allegations were false.
He said: “I knew that it was all a lie. That’s why I didn’t get angry.
“When everything was a lie, why should I be angry? And all those things are old. They have happened. What can we talk about them? Everyone knew the truth.
“What could I say at that time when nothing like this happened?
“Suddenly, someone says that you did this, you did that. What would I have answered to all these things?
“Should I have said that I didn’t do this? I know the truth that I didn’t do anything.”
Tanushree previously spoke about facing adversaries after making the allegations, saying:
“A lot of stuff has happened since I came back to India.
“I am trying to resurrect my career, and people are interested in working with me, despite the image that these Bollywood mafias have portrayed as being difficult.
“I am getting offers for films as well as web projects, in fact signed some also, but have noticed none they materialise.
“All of a sudden, the producers or director go in incognito mode, or sponsors drop.”
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