Nana Patekar addressed Tanushree Dutta sexual harassment claims on Monday afternoon with a one line comment to the media. “What was the truth 10 years ago remains the same today and will continue to be tomorrow as well,” the veteran actor said as he refused to take questions on the controversy.
He said his lawyer had asked him not to speak to the media. “My lawyer has advised me not to speak on the matter. Hence, I am silent. Otherwise, I would have no issues talking to the press,” Nana said.
Tanushree has said in a series of interviews that Nana harassed her on the sets of their 2008 film, Horn OK Pleasss, and demanded that she does a sexually explicit step with him. She claimed that the film’s producer, director and choreographer were complicit in her harassment. Nana was to address a press conference on Monday but he cancelled it on Sunday night.
The 67-year-old star’s lawyer has sent a legal notice to Tanushree for allegedly making false accusations against him and demanded an apology. She, in turn, has filed a police complaint against Nana, choreographer Ganesh Acharya and the director and producer of the 2008 film.
After Tanushree publicly accused Patekar of sexual misconduct during the shooting of Horn OK Pleassss in 2008, Patekar denied the allegations and said he was falsely accused of sexual harassment. He described Tanushree’s claims as a ‘lie’.