Bollywood placard gang's silence on Tanushree Dutta's charges against Nana Patekar is tragic
Padmashree Nana Patekar is everything that Tanushree Dutta is not.
Nana is a male, an established superstar in regional movies, a national award winning actor and a former Bollywood superstar. More so, Nana Patekar is well-known for his charity across the country and beyond. Even today, Nana Patekar commands considerable respect in the political circles of Maharashtra and many top-level politicians are his close friends.
Tanushree, on the other hand, is a girl from Jamshedpur who went on to win the Miss India title in 2004. By dint of her Miss India title win, she landed up with Bollywood roles. If there's anything called rank outsider in Bollywood, then Tanushree checks every box.
Nana Patekar also cannot dance. I mean he can't even get two single steps together, you can just check some of the song videos on YouTube and you will know what I mean to say.
Yet the whole sexual harassment allegation silently swirling around Nana Patekar is regarding this song of the 2008 film, Horn OK Please. Even in this song Nana Patekar looks completely out of place, though we find that there are a few lines sung in a male voice.
Tanushree Dutta, as she had alleged in 2008, has reiterated a decade later that Nana Patekar sexually harassed her during the song, pulling her by the arm and acting patronising towards her and wanting her to teach a few dance steps.
Nana Patekar teaching dance steps! That's another believe-it-or-not moment for me.
Things reached a boiling point when Tanushree says that she started resisting his advances. She also alleges that her agony didn't end there, Nana started demanding an intimate dance sequence with her which made her snap and lock herself in her vanity van for hours.
But ladies and gentleman, her agony didn't end there too. As per her versions in the press, the press was called onto the sets and she was introduced as a heroine who was not cooperating with the filmmakers. Tanushree says that before she could leave the sets with her old parents, the gates of the sets were closed and some political goons were called in. They broke her car and the police rescued her by firing in the air.
When Tanushree went to the police station to lodge a complaint, she found out that Nana Patekar had already lodged an FIR against her.
As Tanushree has spoken up again, a swift rebuttal has come from choreographer Ganesh Acharya, who has said that though he clearly doesn't remember the incident, he is sure that no incident of sexual harassment took place. Tanushree says she got Ganesh Acharya the job as a choreographer for the film.
On the other hand, senior entertainment journalist Janice Sequeira, who was a newcomer to journalism in 2008, confirmed the incidents on a Twitter thread and put her neck out as a witness. She also emphasised that in one decade Tanushree's version of the events haven't changed one bit. She has called out for support on Tanushree's behalf.
Some incidents that take place even a decade ago remain fresh in your memory. What happened with #TanushreeDutta on the sets of “Horn Ok Please” is one such incident - I was there. #NanaPatekar[THREAD]
— Janice Sequeira (@janiceseq85) September 26, 2018
That, ladies and gentleman, is all the noise surrounding the incident. Beyond that there's a deafening silence.
Interestingly, just before these allegations surfaced Bollywood was discussing a lot about how a #MeToo movement can never happen here because no actress will ever have the guts to name and shame a big star or a producer.
Online articles were written, TV debates were held about why a #MeToo movement wouldn't even begin in Bollywood even though sexual harassment is rampant. Some actresses had also come out and shared their experiences of sexual harassment without naming anybody and those videos garnered thousands of views. But everyone was cosy in their corners because nobody was named and shamed. Since no actual names were coming out, it was a good debate to have. But Tanushree came and truth bombed that cosy existence.
Hence silence prevailed when one yesteryear actress gathered the courage to face the TV cameras again and reiterate that she had indeed named her harasser at one point of time but he was never shamed. Forget about that, nobody looked into her complaint. There was no investigation.
Let me tell you that this ripple in the muddied water will die down eventually. The Bollywood placard gang will just wait it out till the hustle and bustle dies down and they will go back to talking about their films again.
In the meantime, Bollywood activists will throw in various reasons about why he or she is not reacting to these allegations.
The typical responses will range from, "I was not present," "The law will take its own course," "Truth will eventually come out," "I am not informed properly, I need to find out more about the incident," "I know Nana personally, he is a gem of a person," "I believe in women's rights just don't ask me about this," "Can we talk about my upcoming film instead?" and "No comments."
Not one, I repeat not one woman or man from the fraternity will come out in support of Tanushree Dutta. Remember, giving moral support to Tanushree doesn't mean that you are confirming the incident. Voicing your opinion about the courage and grit of Tanushree Dutta doesn't mean you are saying that Nana is guilty.
Yet, the Bollywood placard gang will maintain a stoic silence and will pretend that nothing of this sort is actually happening.
Do you know why? It is because one lone woman is up against a very powerful man. A woman who had faded out of Bollywood has resurfaced. A woman, who is demanding justice for being forced out of a career that was just taking off. The woman who can't give anything in return for the justice that she is demanding. She doesn't have anything to give back to any of her supporters.
This #MeToo moment will die down. But history will remember that Bollywood got a chance to stand up to the rest of the world and show that they too have spines. But it chose to act spineless.
The #MeToo movement gathered pace in Hollywood when prominent actresses started coming out one by one to speak about their sexual harassment by the super powerful filmmaker, Harvey Weinstein. After The New York Times article exposed Harvey Weinstein as a sexual predator, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Salma Hayek came forward to confirm that the allegations are true. It became a huge moment when women came out in support of each other and spoke out in public. This created such a powerful force that Hollywood was never the same anymore.
It will be because of the same reasons played in reverse mode that there will be no #MeToo moment in Bollywood.
Not because nobody dared to speak up against sexual harassment at the workplace.
But because nobody had the spine to come out in support when somebody actually dared to speak out about her experience.