Tanushree files sexual assault complaint against Nana; he says she’s lying

Agencies
October 7, 2018

Mumbai, Oct 7: Tanushree Dutta on Saturday filed a police complaint against veteran actor Nana Patekar for allegedly sexually harassing her on the sets of a film in 2008, police said.

Dutta, in a recent interview alleged that Patekar had misbehaved with her while filming a song for the 2008 film ‘Horn ‘OK’ Pleasss.’

She has filed the complaint at the Oshiwara police station against Patekar, choreographer Ganesh Acharya, producer Sameer Siddiqui and director Rakesh Sarang.

According to Dutta's advocate Nitin Satpute, the actor will be giving a statement to the police on Sunday.

"We have filed a police complaint, they are investigating the matter and tomorrow (Sunday) they have called her (Dutta) for recording her statement," Satpute told PTI.

He added that a similar complaint had been filed by the actor back in 2008 as well.

In a letter, Dutta said that she lodged her complaint for the registration of FIR under Sections 354, 354 (A), Section 34 and Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

She further said before shooting the song, which was supposed to be a solo song picturised only on her, she had clearly mentioned that she will not enact or perform any lewd, vulgar or uncomfortable steps.

However, on the fourth day of the shoot, Patekar's behaviour was inappropriate as he was grabbing her by the arms and pushing her around on the pretext of teaching her some steps, the complaint said.

"When he was touching me indecently and unnecessary I felt very uncomfortable because of his behaviour, I felt he has outraged my modesty," the letter read.

Dutta even complained to the choreographer, producer and director hoping some action would be taken and everything would be fine.

But to her surprise, new steps were introduced by Acharya, which were intimate and included Patekar touching her inappropriately, she alleged.

The actor said she was being forced and pressurised to do the steps but after she refused, the producer threatened to defame her.

Everyone was taking side of Patekar, she said.

She then called her parents and manager, who questioned Patekar's actions. However, the producer refused to budge, and Dutta had no choice but to leave the studio, the complaint said.

On the way out, her car was attacked, but with the help of the police she managed to escape from the spot, it added.

“We were then taken to the police station and my statement was recorded but not as per the complaint. Many parts of my complaint were deleted, omitted and avoided,” she alleged.

She also lodged a complaint with CINTAA in March 2008.

"After the above incident I was under tremendous shock and I suffered psychological trauma and was unable to take work and suffered huge monetary loss in crores," Dutta said in the letter.

Tanushree Dutta's lawyer on Saturday said that the actress will move the High Court if the police failed to take adequate action against the accused.

Addressing the media, Advocate Nitin Satpute said, "We have all evidence of the incident and will move the High Court if proper action is not taken by the police."

On being asked why did the actress file a complaint ten years late, Satpute said, "Tanushree had tried to lodge an FIR against Nana Patekar, Ganesh Acharya, the director and producer of the movie in 2008, but police made fool of her by registering a case only against the incident of attack on her vehicle and didn't mention anyone's name. (sic)"

He added, "Since she doesn't know Marathi she was unaware of it. Moreover, she was also in depression due to the harassment that she had undergone. Now that Tanushree has recovered she decided to take action and registered a case against them."

Earlier in the day, Patekar, who was shooting for his upcoming film ‘Housefull 4’ in Jodhpur, landed here Saturday.

"I said this ten years ago... a lie is a lie (Dus saal pehle bol chuka hoon, ab jo jhoot hai woh jhoot hai')," Patekar told reporters here Saturday.

Patekar's lawyer had sent a legal notice to Dutta demanding apology.

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Agencies
March 27,2020

Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday announced that Doordarshan will retelecast iconic show 'Ramayana' from Saturday on public demand.

"Happy to announce that on public demand, we are starting retelecast of 'Ramayana' from tomorrow in DD National. One episode in morning 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., another in the evening 9 p.m. to 10 p.m.," Javdekar tweeted.

Happy to announce that on public demand, we are starting retelecast of 'Ramayana' from tomorrow, Saturday March 28 in DD National, One episode in morning 9 am to 10 am, another in the evening 9 pm to 10 pm.@narendramodi
@PIBIndia@DDNational

— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) March 27, 2020
'Ramayana' is an Indian historical-drama epic television series, which aired during 1987-1988, created, written, and directed by Ramanand Sagar.

The show was a television adaptation of the ancient Indian Hindu epic of the same name, and is primarily based on Valmiki's Ramayan and Tulsidas' Ramcharitmanas.

DD National also said that on public demand, amid the 21-day lockdown, it will broadcast Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan from Saturday.

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News Network
January 27,2020

Los Angeles, Jan 27: Lil Nas X, Lady Gaga, Beyonce and... Michelle Obama?

Yep.

The former first lady can now add Grammy winner to her resume, after snagging the award on music's biggest night for Best Spoken Word Album, for the audiobook of her memoir Becoming.

Her win on Sunday gives the Obama household its third Grammy: former president Barack Obama has already snagged two Grammys in the same category for his books.

She faced an eccentric group of rivals that included Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys for Beastie Boys Book and John Waters, the director-performer known for his transgressive cult films, for Mr. Know-It-All.

 Released in late 2018, Becoming saw the former first lady slam U.S. president Donald Trump for questioning her husband's citizenship and promoting the notion that he was born abroad.

"The whole [birther] thing was crazy and mean-spirited, of course, its underlying bigotry and xenophobia hardly concealed," Obama wrote.

America's first black first lady also dug into her personal life in her book, expounding on issues including a miscarriage, using in-vitro fertilization to conceive her daughters and marriage counseling.

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Agencies
June 15,2020

Mumbai, Jun 15: Actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death has reignited the discussions around the struggle of survival in Bollywood, with many insiders highlighting "cruel and unforgiving" nature of the industry, particularly tough on outsiders.

Rajput was found hanging in his Bandra apartment on Sunday.

According to a police official, Mumbai Police found out during the probe that the 34-year-old actor was under medication for depression.

An engineering student, Rajput left his course at the Delhi Technological University in the early 2000s and rose from a background dancer to a TV star with soap opera Pavitra Rishta, which gave the "outsider" his breakout show in 2009.

In 2013, he made his Bollywood debut with Kai Po Che! and went on to star in films such as Shuddh Desi Romance, Raabta, Kedarnath, Sonchiriya and Chhichhore.

But his most prominent role came as cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni's in the 2007 biopic, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story.

In a telling tweet, veteran actor Dharmendra wrote despite not knowing Rajput personally, his death served as a reminder that the industry could be "cruel".

"Pyaare Sushant, naa film dekhi na kabhi mila tum se... par tere achaanak chale jaane se bada sadma laga. This beautiful beloved 'show business" is very cruel. I can imagine your unbearable pain. I share the pain of your loving family and friends," Dharmendra wrote.

Actor Meera Chopra penned a powerful, poignant note about the loneliness one feels working in an industry, which is "cold and ruthless".

"We all knew well that Sushant was going through depression since long, but what did we do? Where was his close circle, the directors and producers he's worked with, his close friends? Why nobody came out and helped, gave him the kind of love, the work that he wanted - because nobody cares," she wrote on Twitter.

The Section 375 actor, who has been vocal about feeling suffocated by the constant judgement from the industry colleagues, said nobody in Bollywood cares about what one's going through and artistes are just a flop away from being alienated.

Chopra said the industry has "failed" Rajput and Bollywood will now never be the same.

"True, Bollywood is a small family, but a kind of family which is never there when you need them. He had to take his life for that family to realise the kind of pain and need he was in. An outsider will always feel like an outsider here.

"I just want to say to my industry that help people when they need it, and you know when they need it. There is no point tweeting when they are no more. Don't pretend to be sad when you guys didn't do anything when he was sad. Stop being such a hypocritical society," she added.

Gulshan Devaiah said, as an actor, one could understand why Rajput would've taken the step to end his life.

"As actors, somewhere deep down inside, we think we know why he did it and that’s why it so disturbing even if you didn’t know him at all. It’s a hard game to play and he played it very well but the game won in the end," Devaiah wrote.

Quoting Chopra's tweet, the Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota star dismissed the idea of Bollywood being a family.

"If one thinks it’s a family, there is the problem. Bollywood is an imaginary name for a place of work, that’s it. I am really not trying to put anybody down here and sorry if it seems," he wrote.

On Sunday, actor-producer Nikhil Dwivedi posted a strongly-worded tweet calling out the "hypocrisy" of the industry after people from the film fraternity wrote they regretted not staying in touch with the "Chhichhore" star.

"High and mighty announcing they should have kept in touch with Sushant. Come on, you didn't! And that's because his career dipped. So STFU! Are you in touch with Imran Khan, Abhay Deol and others? No! But you were, when they were doing well," Dwivedi said.

Similar sentiment was echoed by filmmaker Anubhav Sinha, who, without taking names, said the "Bollywood Privilege Club" must sit down and think hard.

"Now don't ask me to elaborate any further," he tweeted.

Addressing outsiders, filmmaker Hansal Mehta wrote a long thread about the two ends of an artiste's time in the industry - the glorious successes and the crushing lows.

"There are many young 'outsiders' in this industry. Remember this - there is an establishment that will make you feel like the next big thing until they need you. They will drop you and mock you as soon as you falter. Do not fall for the trap. The ones that celebrate you will celebrate your downfall some time later," he tweeted.

Mehta said it's important for those who don't come from a film family to not force themselves to fit in.

"Just be authentic, follow your heart and stop seeking acceptance from anybody. Your connection should be with your art, your craft and with your audience. Nothing else matters. Over the years you will succeed, you will stumble.

"But remember that nothing is more important than you. Look after yourself. And know that you matter. The world is much bigger and wiser than what you perceive. So are opportunities. If you stay they will be yours. Lots of love. Never lose heart," the filmmaker wrote.

Celebrity hairstylist-turned-director Sapna Bhavnani claimed that Rajput's battle with mental health was out in the open and yet the industry chose to look the other way.

"It’s no secret Sushant was going through very tough times for the last few years. No one in the industry stood up for him nor did they lend a helping hand. To tweet today is the biggest display of how shallow the industry really is. No one here is your friend," she wrote on Twitter.

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