Tanushree Dutta on set of ‘Horn OK Pleassss’ at Filmistan Studios in Goregaon, Mumbai on Wednesday evening, March 26. Photo Credit: Sawf NewsMarch 31, 2008 (Sawf News) - When a senior actor felt fresh with a Bollywood starlet on set, she surprised him by telling him 'Na' 'Na' and took up the issue with the producer of the film. Instead of coming to her rescue, the producer and the choreographer worked in cahoots with the senior actor to humiliate the starlet.
To appease the senior actor, the choreographer, one of the best known in Bollywood, asked the starlet, hired exclusively for an item song, to perform dance steps that would allow the senior actor to feel her up nice and proper.
The starlet refused to do the dance steps and was consequently booted out of the film.
The above is typical of the workplace harassment that starlets face, a source tells us. The source has worked on many sets and witnessed such harassment.
We are not suggesting the above incident has anything to do with the Tanushree Dutta case. But we do know that that the actor involved in the above incident was not a North Indian!
Talking about the Tanushree Dutta case we did some due diligence on Nana Patekar and realized that behind his rustic and earthy demeanor there is a very colorful character. Ironically, all this while we had thought of him just as a very talented actor.
Nana has been estranged from his wife Neelakanti Patekar for almost two decades now but the two continue to be good friends. The couple has a son, Malhar Patekar.
Nana's past dalliances, following his estrangement, are many and include Ayesha Jhulka and Manisha Koirala.
He had a torrid affair with a much younger Marathi actress Dr. Utkarsha Naik, his co-star in the play Purush.
In 2006, a 27-year-old aspiring actress by the name of Punam Doipode, told TOI that she and Nana Patekar were an item.
"Nana and I have been seeing each other since August last year when I went over to his place for Ganesh Chaturthi," said Punam.
"Both my parents and Nana were together in college and we have been family friends since then. But only last year, when I returned from the US after a stint of modeling, did we get in touch again and since then we have gotten real close. But I don't know about the future. We're just taking each day as it comes."
Nana denied the relationship telling the press, ""I don't deny knowing her. But she is only a child, yaar. I have known her since she was a oneyear-old kid. Her parents were my classmates."
We don't see anything wrong with Nana's past dalliances. We consider them healthy. He is a man and he is single. If he prefers younger woman and those younger women prefer an older man, so be it. It could be love or it could be fornication, when it is between two consenting adults, we have no problems.
But we do see a problem when adults are non-consenting. We also see a problem in the ability of our courts to deliver justice in a case like that of Tanushree Dutta.
While we doubt Tanushree Dutta will get justice, we are sure that if others follow her example the rule of the law will begin to prevail, on sets in Bollywood and else where in the country.
We are proud of Tanushree Dutta! Way to go girl! They may have the testosterone but you have the balls!
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