Bollywood has shown a candle to society and it is time for it to set a strong precedent for others to follow. It appears there is no sexual harassment policy in film industry and many a time there is confusion as to what constitutes sexual harassment.
It all began with Tanushree Dutta who has become almost a mascot for #MeToo campaign and a familiar name these days in newspapers, social media and other news stories .She has become topic of the conversation after she accused Actor Nana Patekar for allegedly harassing her physically and mentally in 2008 during the shoot of ‘Horn Ok pleassss’. In her statements she has accused Nana Patekar and Vivek Agnihotri,Bollywood film director and producer, for making false statements against her, sending her legal notices and threatening her with physical violence from Goons from Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. According to Tanushree, she was very upset over this development and left for the USA after this incident. Now, she has returned to India nearly a decade after the incident, and has chosen to report the issue.
Born and brought up in a Bengali family, model turned actress Tanushree was very keen to become a renowned actress. She started with a career in modeling and finally won Femina Miss India in 2004, which made her eligible for Miss Universe. She was among the top ten at the Miss Universe pageant held at Quito, in Ecuador. This victory opened the doors of opportunities for her and she started getting offers for roles in movies and top modeling assignments. Her first movie, “Ashique banaya Aapne” was released in 2005, which brought her into the limelight and she became famous as a glamorous star. With this, her popularity grew and she received a lot of film offers.
The controversy over Tanushree’s allegations has become a massive media storm. Recently, Nana Patekar was contacted on the Mumbai airport and he has denied all charges against him, calling Tanushree a liar.
Support is pouring for Tanushri. Actor and producer Pooja Bhatt has extended full support to Tanushree. Anushka Sharma, Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar, Renuka Shahane and Varun Dhawan have also supported Tanushree while Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan have chosen to stay silent and away from controversy over this issue.
Now a police complaint has been filed against Tanushree Dutta for allegedly defaming Bal Thackeray, MNS Head & Maharashtra Navnirman Sena .
Though some Bollywood actors are supporting Tanushree, most have chosen to stay mum on the issue, protecting their public image and interests. What will be the result of this controversy it’s yet to be seen but this case has made media to rethink about images of their favourite film artists. Whether Nana Patekar,s statement is true only time will tell. He has refused the allegations in recent interview and said, “Truth remains same as ten years ago. “His lawyer has also filled police complaint against Tanushree for defaming him. If Tanushree is wrong then why so many actresses have stood in support for her and if Nana Patekar is true then why Tanushree has blamed him. Is it to attract publicity? These questions are in everybody’s mind. It remains to be seen how this issue progresses, if the accused are proven guilty and what action is taken against them. This case will set a precedent for the course of action for all such future issues that may happen in Bollywood or any other industry.
In the meanwhile, Nana has sent a legal notice to Dutta who later filed a complaint with the police and also sought help from the Maharashtra Women Commission in the matter.
Debate growing
However, #MeToo is not only confined to Tanushree Dutta now. Bollywood is notorious for these types of allegations from young actresses who come here to establish themselves as top actresses but end up struggling. Either some of them surrender or leave this field. Tanushree’s outbursts have opened up the debate on this issue.
Support pouring
Many Bollywood celebs including Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar, Taapsee Pannu, Swara Bhasker, Sonam Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Varun Dhawan among others are coming forward to share their views on the movement. Recently Kangana Ranaut has confessed being allegedly sexually harassed by Film Director Vikas Behl during the shooting of ‘Queen’. “He hugged me so tightly, I had to literally push him to save myself”, Kangna said in an interview. He used to bury his head in her hair and would appreciate the smell of her hair.
Preity Zinta, who had fairy tale relationship with Ness Wadia also ended up accusing Wadia for molestation and mental harassment. Priety Zinta while supporting Tanushree has said that no woman would ever speak lie about being sexually harassed. She encouraged women to come out and report about sexual assault. Priety Zinta in her interview has asked women to come out openly.
As Tanushree Dutta’s case is getting heated more and more women are opening up in this “Me too movement” and latest Tanmaya Bhatt, co-Founder and CEO of (AIB) had to quit his job for not taking action against sexual harassment.
Sanskarri Alok Nath in dock
Vinita Nanda , writer of TV shows has accused Alok Nath, Veteran actor of TV shows, of rape twenty years ago. Nanda, best known for writing the highly popular soap opera of the 1990s, Tara, has accused the “most #Sanskaari person in the film and television industry” of rape. In a long post on her Facebook account, she reveals that the person in question was the main lead of Tara, who she describes as the “television star of that decade.” Asserting that this actor was “alcoholic, shameless and obnoxious,” she claims that he would sexually harass the female lead of Tara, which ultimately led to his departure from the show.
In the later portion of her post, however, Vinita makes a shocking claim — of being brutally raped by this actor while she was heavily intoxicated. The 20-year-old incident took place after a party at his house wherein her drinks were mixed, she says in her post. In her powerful post, the filmmaker gives a shout out to all those who have suffered sexual harassment ever in their lives. She writes, “I have waited for this moment to come for 19 years. I shout out to each one of you who have suffered at the hands of predators to come out and say it aloud. Don’t hold yourselves back.”
With all this, the #Metoo movement is picking up in India and this too is encouraging women to come out with their experiences. Priety Zinta has encouraged women to file Police complaints against sexual harassment. Kangna Ranaut has also come out in full support for Tanushree. Tanushree,s bold statement against Nana Patekar has perhaps given courage to other ladies in Bollywood to raise their voice too.
Setting an example
Aamir Khan has opted out of a film on the ground that it’s helmed by someone who has a pending sexual harassment case on him. Twitter users were quick to speculate that Aamir is talking about Mogul, a film on late founder of T-Series Gulshan Kumar. Subhash Kapoor was expected to direct the film whose sexual harassment case is sub-judice.
Earlier, Aamir took to Twitter late on Wednesday to announce his decision. His official statement says, “Two weeks ago, when traumatic #MeToo stories began emerging, it was brought to our attention that someone we were about to begin work with has been accused of sexual misconduct. Upon enquiry we found that this particular case is sub-judice, and that the legal process is in motion. So, without casting any aspersions on anyone involved in this case, and without coming to any conclusions about these specific allegations, we have decided to step away from this film.”
Bollywood celebrities in sexual offence
