ActressTanushree Dutta says she was slapped with two legal notices on Thursday, from veteran actor Nana Patekar and filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri. In a recent TV interview, Dutta alleged Patekar misbehaved with her when the two were shooting a special song for Horn Ok Pleassss 10 years ago, a claim she reiterated. Following the resurgence of the controversy, she also accused Agnihotri of behaving inappropriately with her during the making of 2005 film Chocolate. “I have been slapped with two legal notices today. One from Nana Patekar and another from Vivek Agnihotri.
“This is the price you pay for speaking out against harassment, humiliation and injustice in India. Both Nana’s and Vivek Agnihotri’s teams are on a smear campaign against me by constructing outright lies and misinformation on social media platforms and other public platforms,” Dutta said in a statement issued by her PR team, Shimmer Entertainment.
The actress, a former Miss India -Universe, claimed the supporters of Patekar and Agnihori are “weaving damning allegations” against her. She alleged threat to her life, saying while the police personnel deployed at her house were on a lunch break “two unnamed suspicious individuals tried getting into our home uninvited but were stopped just in time”.
“Violent threats are being issued against me by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) party,” she claimed. On the controversy, which is being touted India’s #MeToo moment, the actor said the age-old apathetic treatment of the survivors has kept the movement away from India. Dutta, who is now based in the US, said she stands to lose this new life too if she allowed herself “to get embroiled in the court system of India”.
After the allegations resurfaced against Patekar last week, the veteran actor laughed off her claim, asking what he could do about it. The 67-year-old actor had said he would see if he could take any legal step. Dutta has garnered support from many in the film industry which includes names such as Farhan Akhtar, Priyanka Chopra, Twinkle Khanna, Hansal Mehta, Richa Chadha and Swara Bhasker, among others.
