The “MeToo” movement, which focuses on the experiences of sexual violence survivors, was started worldwide in 2017.  But in India, it gained momentum in October 2018 when actress Tanushree Dutta, directly took names of big celebrities like Nana Patekar and Ganesh Acharya.

Tanushree Dutta accused actor Nana Patekar of sexual harassment and getting too close to her while shooting for a special song for the 2008 film ‘Horn Ok Please’. She claimed that he called members of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena to intimidate her when she refused to perform an intimate dance with him.

Dutta also alleged that Acharya, who was the choreographer for the song, introduced new steps which were “intimate”. Tanushree stated, “He was being aggressive and was pushing me around. I complained about him, but it was not heard…When I tried to escape it, they called the media to do a mob lynching attack on us. My mother and father were inside the car. That was horrific… Ganesh Acharya was the one who pressured me to perform an intimate step. Everybody was involved including Amit Siddiqui and Rakesh Sarangi. All of them are good friends.”

Investigation of Tanushree’s case

The actress came up with revelation almost after a decade and hence, the witnesses were unable to recall what exactly happened on the sets back then.

While Police maintained that they are doing a high-level investigation, Tanushree was not satisfied with it. She claimed that the witnesses were friends of Nana, and would not vouch for her allegations of sexual harassment. “Who are these 15 witnesses? Are they from my side or Nana’s side? They are Nana’s friends, then why will they corroborate my story. I don’t need witnesses to prove that I was harassed. The truth is sometimes difficult to prove in a court of law when it comes to harassment,” she said.

Tanushree also alleged that there were some witnesses who wanted to speak in her favour but were threatened and intimidated. “Some of the witnesses who wish to give statements in support of my story are receiving threat calls from Nana’s people. We have faced a lot of difficulty in convincing witnesses to give their statements, as they are scared. So the people who know the truth are being hounded and replaced by fake witnesses who are speaking lies.” she said in a statement.

The investigation has closed now. In fact, Nana accused Tanushree of defamation and filed a suit worth Rs 25 crores against her.

Tanushree on Ganesh Acharya

In a statement, Dutta said, “It’s time Bollywood and the other Indian film industries boycott choreographer Ganesh Acharya completely. Hiding behind the male superstars who work with this despicable man, he has been abusing his power and position to harass, bully and take advantage of vulnerable young newcomers to the industry.”

Tanushree on Nana Patekar’s Return

In November 2020, actor Nana Patekar started his new innings with Firoze Nadiadwala’s web series, while Tanushree Dutta took up a regular IT job in the US after spending over a decade in the entertainment industry. Talking about the same to a leading daily, Tanushree said, “I’m in training now. It will be a whole new life. Then I read about Nana Patekar’s return. I felt sick in my stomach when I read this kind of news. Even after Sushant Singh’s death, Bollywood has not learned its lesson in humility. Signing up Vivek Agnihotri and Nana Patekar in the same project is almost a mockery of my integrity and honour! And a kick in the gut to all the women and men who fought in the #metoo movement. Glorifying bullying and harassment most shamelessly! How many need to die before this atrocious insensitivity in Bollywood stops?? I’m disgusted, hurt, and disappointed beyond repair.

Following the lines of Tanushree

A lot of cases of MeToo started coming up after Tanushree’s revelation. She gave a lot of courage to many people, both from industry and outside the industry. Ganesh’s assistant Divya Kotian alleged that the ace choreographer Ganesh Acharya used to make her watch porn whenever she used to visit his office. Names like Alok Nath, Sushant Singh Rajput Vikar Bahl, Vivek Agnihotri, etc. were also dragged under the same campaign.

What is Tanushree Up to These Days?

In 2020, the actress revealed that she was forced to move out of the industry after this incident. She was disappointed to see how the industry took no time in reinstating a man accused of sexually harassing a woman while the victim is still trying to build a new career.

At present (as of March 2021), the former actress stunned everybody with pictures of her body transformation and also hinted at her return to Bollywood. She has told in her interview that she is getting a lot of offers from the industry now.

As per the actress, she said MeToo in 2008 also, but 2018 had social media. That was a big statement as social media proves to be a boon in all such cases. But even after all the support, she lost it. Also, if somebody is courageous enough to say it all, people should be kind enough to believe them. The movement did bring the dark face of Bollywood to the forefront but died a natural death due to the involvement of power and money.