Tanushree Dutta Says She Was Offered A Film By A #MeToo Accused: 'He Wanted To Change His Image'
Tanushree opened up about being apporached by two #MeToo accused to work in their films but she let go of them in order to not set a wrong precedent.
New Delhi: Tanushree Dutta began Bollywood's #MeToo movement when she accused Nana Patekar for a second time, of sexual assault on the sets of the film, 'Horn Ok Pleassss', in 2018. The movement has found a new breath with the recently released 235-page report by the Justice Hema Committee on sexual harrassment of women in the Malayalam film industry.
Recently, in an interaction with News18 Showsha, Tanushree opened up about being apporached by two #MeToo accused to work in their films but she let go of them in order to not set a wrong precedent.
“What’s needed is for every single actor willing to make a little sacrifice for a cause. In December 2018, I got offered a movie by a very big producer. She has made some of the biggest films. But her director was a #MeToo accused and I promptly refused the opportunity. Who’s losing in this bargain? Me. I haven’t done film work in a long, long time,” she told the channel.
“I do appearances and brand events only. I want to do lead roles in films about women empowerment. But since his name came up during #MeToo, I didn’t want to take that offer up. Such an episode happened again after a couple of years. In between, I had signed some decent projects but I was targeted very badly and my projects were sabotaged," she added.
When a Bengali filmmkaer accused in #MeToo offered her a film
In another incident, she shared that she was offered a film by a director from Kolkata, who would have helped her make a comeback but she turned that down. She said, "I liked the story and the role was fantastic. I thought it’s a great opportunity for me to resume my acting career with a Bengali film. A week later, I came to know that his name too had come up during #MeToo. The narration had happened and I had also put forth some conditions, which he had agreed upon. I was happy that someone was working diligently on the script to make my character more prominent,” she recalled.
As per Tanushree, this opportunity by the filmmaker was to whitewash his image. She said,"Why did he come to me? He thought that #MeToo ko kaafi time ho gaya hai and that if he casts me in his film, it will give the impression that I’m siding with him. He wanted to change his image through me. Maybe, he also thought that since no one is working with him in Bengal, he would work with a Bollywood actress and create a bigger profile for himself."
“There was no case against him but the whole industry had believed the woman. Since Bengal is an open-minded society, it’s understandable why they believed her and supported her. And if I did that film, it would look like the leader of #MeToo is now supporting an accused. I politely refused. There was an agency involved. I told them that I want to let the film go. I even consulted my dad to get his opinion on the matter and he told me that it wouldn’t be ethically right to take up a film with someone who is an accused," Tanushree said.
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