News Desk |
Bollywood actress Tanushree Datta has denied receiving any legal notice from veteran actor Nana Patekar after she accused him of sexually harassing her. “I have not received any notice,” the 34-year-old actor said on Tuesday. “These threats are put forth so that others like me are scared to come forward.
Anyone with a similar experience who comes forward should not worry about such intimidation tactics.” She added that “The whole nation will support them. There are big media houses standing in solidarity with this movement. It is an excellent time to take these remorseless men to task and send a strong message across.
Harassment cases are taken lightly in our society but when given a free pass, over time they become endemic and lead to extreme cases like mine, ending in mob violence.” The lawyer of Nana Patekar, Rajendra Shirodhkar told media that the notice sent to Tanushree Datta denies the allegation she has leveled upon Patekar and demands an apology from her.
Read more: Nana Patekar Row: Celebrities voice support for alleged victim
“A legal notice has already been sent to her and she will receive it today. The notice that I have sent is a standard one – denying allegations and asking for an apology,” said Shirodkar, “I can’t say much now. I have absolutely no idea why she (Tanushree) is talking about it now but she may have some reasons to do it.
Nana will come to town (Mumbai) today or tomorrow and address a press conference. Let him come back and talk, that is the best way to know. Tomorrow he should be definitely here,” said Shirodhkar on Monday while talking to the media.
Tanushree, however, took a dig at the bigwigs of the Bollywood on their alleged silence on the issue. She believes that they are silent because they are afraid of the revelation of their ‘dark secrets’. “You lose confidence in the fraternity. Today people are coming forward but even the silence of some of these biggies is deafening.
Read more: Nana Patekar rejects allegations of sexual harassment
Are they afraid some of their dark secrets will also be revealed if they come out? You can judge the kind of people who have come out in support. You can tell their character,” she said. “The ones who don’t come out have got much to hide. That’s why they don’t want to comment.
They want just to pretend and wish it to go away. But it isn’t going anywhere.” On the other hand, like many other female Bollywood celebrities, Sui Dhaga actor, Varun Dhawan expressed solidarity with Tanushree Datta and lauded her for the courage to speak up.
He said: “I have been busy with ‘Sui Dhaaga’, so I haven’t really heard the whole story, but I think what’s most important at a workplace is respect — whether for a woman, man or a child. We want to make our industry a safe place and everyone deserves equal respect. Also if someone is openly talking about the issue, we should hear them out. It takes great courage to talk about it and I applaud that courage.”