Tanushree Dutta caused a huge stir in the industry as she accused Nana Patekar of sexual misconduct on the sets of their film ‘Horn OK Pleasss‘. This movement has come to the forefront again due to the harassment of women in the Malayalam film industry and a report was released by Justice K Hema Committee on the same. Amidst that, Tanushree says one has to pay a price of speaking up as work opportunities reduce and how.The same price is being paid by Parvathy Thiruvothu and Rima Kallingal who are the founding members of ‘Women in Cinema Collective’.
During a recent chat, Tanushree revealed how she had to pay a price for it and yet she said no to work where a director or maker was accused of ‘Me too’. But one has to make that movie, asserts the actress. “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 said during a chat with News18.
She further added, “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.”
Tanushree also revealed that she was supposed to make her comeback with a Bengali film. However, she later realised that even that director’s name was involved in ‘Me Too’ and he was just wanting to white wash his image by casting her. “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.”
However, he seemed to have other intentions, revealed Tanushree. “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,” she said.
With that, Tanushree urges other women to speak up, for the sake of dignity and integrity of a woman as movies is her passion and yet she’s making such a big sacrifice.