'If anything happens to me...' Tanushree Dutta attacks Nana Patekar
Actor Tanushree Dutta, who has been away from Tinsel Town for a while, left a cryptic post on her Instagram account on Friday. The Dhol actor posted a photo of herself and accompanied it with a long note, saying that if anything happens to her, actor Nana Patekar should be held responsible. To recall, in 2018, Dutta had accused Patekar of physical harassment.
Why does this story matter?
Dutta's volatile allegations against the thespian came as a huge jolt to Bollywood, where female actors had seldom spoken about workplace harassment openly. Per Dutta, Nana Patekar harassed her on the sets of Horn 'OK' Pleassss, where she was roped in for a dance number. Allegedly, he touched her inappropriately while the rest of the crew remained tight-lipped and didn't step forward to help.
'If anything happens to me, Patekar will be responsible'
Dutta started the post on a rather grim note, writing, "If anything ever happens to me, let it be known that #MeToo accused Nana Patekar, his lawyers and associates and his Bollywood mafia friends are responsible!" She also went on to talk about Sushant Singh Rajput's yet-to-be-solved death, and wrote that the "mafia" denotes the ones "whose names come up in SSR's case."
'Go after everyone,' Dutta requested her fans
Dutta's note also seemed to be a clarion call for "vengeance" and justice. Trying to amass support, she further wrote, "Do not watch their movies, boycott them totally and go after them with a vicious vengeance. Go after all the industry faces and journalists who planted fake news about me and PR people too behind the vicious smear campaigns." "Go after everyone!!" beseeched Dutta.
Several fans came out in the actor's support
Dutta's post won her a lot of support and several of her fans took to the comments section to shower sympathy on the Raqeeb actor. While some sent her strength and prayed for her well-being, few others also spoke about boycotting Bollywood. One such supporter wrote, "May god give you strength. Praying for justice. We all know what Bollywood can do. Be safe."
You can read the entire post here
Case filed in 2018, Patekar was labeled innocent in 2019
In 2018, the 38-year-old filed an official complaint against the Welcome actor. However, she didn't find much justice from the court of law and the police reportedly didn't find "enough evidence" against Patekar. While Dutta received support and backing from Farhan Akhtar, Renuka Sahane, and Sonam Kapoor, the matter eventually lost steam. In June 2019, Patekar was issued a clean chit by Mumbai Police.
