'Vivek Agnihotri confessed, so we'll file FIR against him'

Tanushree Dutta

Actor Tanushree Dutta, who got the ball rolling for #MeToo in Bollywood, is now all set to lodge an FIR against director Vivek Agnihotri. This comes nearly a fortnight after he slapped her with a notice for making a veiled reference to him, accusing him of 'sexually harassing' her while shooting the film Chocolate: Deep Dark Secrets, in 2005. Advocate Nitin Satpute, Dutta's counsel, told mid-day, "My client had not named Agnihotri during a press interview. But, Agnihotri has sent her a 10-page notice confessing that 'the director was none other than me'. He has confessed to his own crime. So, this week, we will submit a complaint against him at the Oshiwara police station and will request cops to register a molestation case against him."

Lawyer guns for Rakhi too
Dutta is credited with firing up the #MeToo movement after speaking out against alleged sexual misconduct by Nana Patekar and three others while filming Horn 'Ok' Pleassss last month, and registering an FIR against him recently at Oshiwara police station. After the case was filed against Patekar, Bollywood item girl Rakhi Sawant abused Dutta and threatened to thrash her at her house.

Rakhi had said, "Tanushree tu yedi hai... Tu ne Bollywood ka naam ganda kiya hain... Tujhe Nana Patekar aur Ganesh Acharya reply nahi karenge kyunki woh shareef hain.... main ek chamaat marungi, tab pata chalega Rakhi kaun hain... Tujhse main niptungi... Ghar me ghus kar marungi." It was Sawant who had replaced Dutta on the set of Horn Ok Pleassss after the controversy erupted.

'Abused and threatened'
Satpute, who is also legal counsel for the Bhim Army, a Dalit welfare organisation, said, "Taking the side of Patekar and other three accused, Sawant has abused and threatened my client. The Bhim Army has already submitted a two-page complaint letter at the Oshiwara police station, requesting the cops to register a case under the SC/ST Atrocity Act. Now we [Bhim Army] will file an FIR against Rakhi Sawant." Dutta has already filed a Rs 10-crore defamation suit against Sawant. Reacting to the lawsuit, Sawant said on her social media account, "Law is the same for everyone. She has stoked controversy, Pehle wo media-media kheli, ab hum court-court khelenge. She has filed a Rs 10 crore defamation suit, but I will file a Rs 50 crore defamation
case against her."

Context
On the sets of her debut film, the director had allegedly told Dutta "kapde utaar ke naacho" (take off your clothes and dance). Bizarrely, it was not even for her shot. Dutta had said, "This guy [Agnihotri] wanted me to give cues to an actor... I was not even going to be in the shot... This director told me, 'Jao jaake kapde utaar ke naacho, usko cues do.'"

Also Read: Ek mein aur ek #MeToo

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