"Only Tanushree Was Traumatised": Renuka Shahane Picks Side

"Nana Patekar is known as much for his volatile temper as he is for his phenomenal talent or his social service towards farmers. Many men and women from the film industry have faced his wrath," read an excerpt from actress Renuka Shahane's post on the Tanushree Dutta vs Nana Patekar controversy. 

Tanushree Dutta has accused Nana Patekar of sexually aggressive behaviour on Horn 'Ok' Pleassss sets a decade ago and of sending goons to threaten and intimidate her when she rejected his advances. Renuka Shahane on Saturday, in a lengthy Facebook post, cited some points in the raging controversy and supported Tanushree Dutta.

"Tanushree made it clear that she was uncomfortable with a certain step in the dance and did not like Nana's gesture/touch during that step. Even if Nana's intentions might not have been to molest her, couldn't he, the director and the choreographer come up with a step that made her feel comfortable? Is the work place meant for terrorising people or about working in a healthy atmosphere? Would the film have suffered earth shatteringly if the steps were changed so that an actor felt more comfortable?" Renuka Shahane wrote.

Tanushree Dutta had said that the incident happened while filming a song from Horn 'Ok' Pleassss, after which she quit it.

The only people to have so far given their versions of the story is choreographer Ganesh Acharya, who worked with them in the film in question, and a journalist who was on set. Ganesh Acharya defended Nana Patekar by telling News18, "I can confirm that nothing this sort of happened. It's a wrong statement that Nana ji called members of some political party on set." He did admit that "There was some misunderstanding." Meanwhile, the journalist, in a series of tweeys, said the alleged harassment took place.

In her post, Ms Shahane also said, "What made Tanushree uncomfortable might not cause discomfort to other women perhaps but that is no reason for the men on the set to gang up against a person who is part of their team. If she was truly the daughter of any of the men around would they have really asked her to do something that made her feel very uncomfortable or would they want to change the step?" 

She also added that "none of the men had a difficult time. Their ego had won! The men got all the support that any industry (not just the film industry) gives to powerful men. The only person who was traumatized was Tanushree. The scars have still not healed. Please do the math."

Several Bollywood actresses have voiced their opinions in support of Tanushree Dutta, who is also a former beauty queen. Tanushree Dutta recently told DNA that Irrfan Khan and Suniel Shetty stood up for her when Chocolate director (Vivek Agnihotri, whom she didn't name) allegedly instructed her to "take her clothes off and dance" for a scene.

In the meantime, Nana Patekar's lawyer on Friday said that they were sending a legal notice to Tanushree Dutta. However, she claimed to have not received it.