It was only a couple of weeks ago that Tanushree Dutta came forward and re-opened the incidents she faced while working with Nana Patekar. Tanushree braved through all the negative backlash and stood her ground as she spoke her truth in front of the world yet again and while her story wasn’t paid heed to in the past, it certainly got people’s attention this time around. Her revelations opened the floodgates of conversations that made the country take notice of a horrific side of the industry.
Many brave women came forward and spoke about the ordeal they had faced too. Among these brave women is writer-director, Vinta Nanda who found the courage to share her story from 19 years ago bringing to light the terrible acts of sexual harassment she had encountered. While her initial post on Facebook only mentioned, Sanskaari, in an interview with IANS she later revealed she was talking about Alok Nath.
Vinta’s courage has inspired another person to share her story under anonymity. The survivor, who was a crew member of Hum Saath Saath Hain spoke to Mid-Day about Alok Nath harassing her and said:
We were shooting for a night scene and I had taken a change of costumes to him. Once I handed him the clothes, he started stripping in front of me. I was taken aback, and tried to make my way out of the room as soon as possible. When I tried to run out, he grabbed my hand and manhandled me. I remember yanking my hand out of his grip and rushing out of the room.
She went on to reveal why she didn’t come forward at that time saying:
I was shell-shocked; I couldn’t muster the courage to speak up against him. He was extremely close to the Barjatyas, and Sooraj sir would have taken it badly.
She disclosed how the incident left her scarred and affected her career choices:
I don’t actively do movies anymore. The course of my career changed [after this episode]. But Vinta’s post brought it all back.
Vinta’s allegations got her an assurance from Cine & TV Artists Association about sending a show cause notice to the accused.
Applauding Vinta’s courage and the resulting actions, the survivor said:
I am glad CINTAA is taking action against him. I salute Vinta’s courage; I wish I could show the same courage, but life has come way past it and I can’t put my family through this.
Sandhya Mridul has also come forward to share her #metoo encounter with Alok Nath from a movie they shot for together. There are many other brave women who have come forward to disclose names like Vikas Bahl, Rajat Kapoor, Utsav Chakraborty, Kailash Kher, Varun Grover and Tanmay Bhatt.
This feels like a domino effect but it’s quite the opposite, we’re not falling, we’re rising and we’re not going to stop until entitled perpetrators in the industry and all over are stopped. We applaud the women who have come forward to speak their truth.