When she landed in Mumbai five months back for a vacation, little did Tanushree Dutta know how eventful her trip would turn out to be. The former Bollywood actor is single-handedly responsible for triggering the #MeToo movement in India by calling out actor Nana Patekar for sexually harassing her on a movie set a decade ago. It prompted women to come out against their perpetrators and saw strict action against many. She also filed an FIR against Patekar in October.Now, as she readies to head back to the US, she tells us “the plan was to have a nice month-long vacation,” however, with how things have unfolded, she is happy that she “contributed towards bringing about some change in India.”
Tanushree says, “I am glad I was of some help and service. Through this, I also achieved some retribution. The kind of response I got when I spoke, it came as a surprise to me as well. I think sometimes people just become conduits and vessels for some change to come about in society, that’s what happened through me.”The former beauty queen is glad people are not treating the movement as just another passing controversy and it has, in fact, seeped into their subconscious. “I feel all these efforts and troubles were worth it, [because you can see] people have that thought process now and are thinking differently. I was pleasantly surprised many people spoke without fear of judgment, or sense of shame — that is one thing that we need to remove from society,” she says.
So, now that she will not be around, how does she plan to follow up the movement and the police case? Tanushree clarifies the movement does not require her “constant presence” and says as long as people continue to speak about it, it will not fizzle out.“I will always be there, of course. I will be back in some time. This is a new kind of thought process and this will carry on. This does not require my presence; it does not require my constant nagging. That’s the last thing I want to do. I have said what I want to speak and if I have anything more to speak and do, I will do that. I will always share my insight. I function without any agenda,” she says.
Many have questioned her decision to go back to the US but Tanushree is unfazed. “I can’t stop my life, right? I have invested a lot of time, money and resources in getting my residency and settling there. I feel it is the right time for me to go. I can always come back again,” she adds.
