In an exclusive interview with News18 on September 25, actress Tanushree Dutta recounted being sexually harassed on the set of 2008 film Horn OK Pleassss. Though the actress had raised her voice against the incident back then, by and large, the news was met with funeral silence.
Dutta has accused Nana Patekar of misbehaving with her verbally and physically while filming a dance number for the film. The actress claimed that Patekar wanted to do an intimate scene with her in the song and when she refused to do it, the veteran actor allegedly called members of a political party on the set to intimidate her.
She also made allegations against the film’s choreographer Ganesh Acharya, director Rakesh Sarang and producer Samee Siddique, of ganging up against her by witnessing everything mutely and not interfering.
Patekar and Acharya have so far denied the allegations. Speaking to News18, Acharya said, “It’s a wrong statement that Nana ji called members of some political party on set. It never happened. He’s a very sweet person, he can never do that.”
When contacted by Mirror Now, Patekar laughed off the accusations and said, “Whatever people want to say, they can say. But I will continue doing my work.”
Read: Ganesh Acharya Responds to Tanushree Dutta's Allegations: Nana Patekar Can Never Do That
Read: Nana Patekar Denies Tanushree Dutta Allegations, Considers Taking Legal Action
Now, director Rakesh Sarang and producer Samee Siddiqui have spoken up.
Speaking to News18, Siddiqui said, “It was unfortunate that all this happened on my film set. But it was resolved at that point of time only. We immediately replaced her with Rakhi Sawant. I don’t know why she is bringing the issue back when it was already settled down.”
Denying Dutta’s claims of ganging up against her, he said, “These are all allegations. There is no truth in it.”
The producer declined to make any comment on the claims against Patekar, saying he was not present on the set on that day.
“Unless you see anything how can you talk about it? I was informed about it over phone. I spoke to Tanushree about it as well. She even cried in front of me. I told her, ‘It’s better if we resolve it.’ She told me, ‘I’d not be able to work.’ So, I said, ‘Ok, then I’ll replace you.’ I didn’t ask her for refund. If two people can’t work together it gets difficult for a producer to get them work. If these things are happening on the very first day of the shoot then it’s wrong.
“In fact, I was in a loss of about Rs 1 crore at that time because everything had to be shot again,” he added.
When asked if he tried to inquire as to why she was upset, he said, “She just didn’t want to continue so I replaced her. But I didn’t ask her for any refund.”
Read: First Hand Account of What Happened Between Tanushree Dutta, Nana Patekar on Film Set
The producers also denied her claims that Patekar allegedly called members of some political party on the set to threaten her.
“There were no goons. It was the crowd. There were some extra people on the set because of the shooting.”
News18 also reached out to film’s director Sarang who had spoken up in defense of Patekar and said the actress’ claims are “false”.
“There is law in India so if she thinks this had happened with her then she should have gone to the law at that time only. Why is she doing it now? She can, in fact, go to the law today as well.”
Sarang said that after the incident Dutta went to CINTAA (CINE AND TV ARTISTS' ASSOCIATION) to complain while they went to the producers' association and both the parties came to an agreement that they would not work ahead.
“She said she doesn’t want to do it (the song) and we said, ‘Ok’. We can’t force anybody. This is India. This is a democratic country. It was signed by both the associations and the matter was resolved.”
Defending Patekar, Sarang further said, “I still think she misunderstood Nana Patekar’s enthusiasm. He was the hero in the film and he was really excited about his role. He’s a very enthusiastic artiste.”
He added, “When Tanushree came to me and told me about it, I said, ‘don’t worry.’ Obviously I can’t go to Nana Patekar and say that she is upset with you because of all this. He (Nana) would have said, I’m not doing your film.”
When asked as to why he chose to not confront the actor, “You have to do it indirectly. You have to be a little manipulative. You can’t directly attack someone like that because you are working on a commercial film.”
Further backing Nana, he said, “Nobody does this kind of thing in front of 400 or 500 people. I’m not saying that there’s no casting couch in the industry. But people don’t do it upfront. They would do it inside their makeup vans, offices, houses or when they are shooting outdoor. And, Nana has always been very vocal about his relationships. He has openly said that he’d been in so many relationships. Why would he do that?”
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