A week after Nana Patekar died, his son Malhar Patekar has responded to actor Tanushree Dutta, who had said her life became a living hell after she accused the veteran actor of sexual harassment in 2018. Malhar did not name her. He said the matter had been settled by the courts and should be left there.
“Without naming anyone, I want to say that the case people are bringing up unnecessarily is already over. Judiciary se clear hua hain, case khatam ho chuka; phir bhi bol rahe. Aise logo ko mein unko kuch nahi boluga; joh sach hai wahi rahega, bhagwan unka bhala kare, this is what I have to say to them. (Judiciary cleared him, the case is over but people are still speaking. I will not say anything to such people, God bless them),” Malhar told Hindustan Times.
Patekar died of a cardiac arrest in Goa on October 8. He was 75, and he was given a state funeral in recognition of his contribution to Indian cinema.
The allegations and the case
Dutta is an actor, model and former Miss India Universe. She accused Patekar of sexual harassment and intimidation on the set of the 2009 film Horn ‘Ok’ Pleassss, and her allegations are widely seen as the start of India’s #MeToo movement. Patekar dismissed her claims. An FIR was registered against him in 2018, and the case was closed in 2019 for insufficient evidence.
What Dutta said after his death
Dutta’s first response to the news was that she did not know what reaction she was supposed to have. She was criticised heavily on social media for using the phrase ‘evil dead’ in an Instagram Story. She also said she was only 24 when the alleged harassment took place.
In a later video on her social media account, she described her life since 2018. “People don’t know the state I have been in since the #MeToo movement. The girl who used to work out five days a week, who used to roam around the world without fear, I never had any security issues and no trouble traveling anywhere. After #MeToo, such incidents have happened with me that I can’t even narrate it here on Instagram. Your face will be wet with shame. People don’t know what all has happened to me,” she said.
“In 2024, someone cut the brakes of my car. The goons used to follow me everywhere after the #MeToo movement,” she added.
Malhar on his father’s last years
Malhar also explained why his father took on less film work over the last 15 years or so. “He didn’t want to do films as it became repetitive, so he wanted to make his own stories. He believed in evolving as an actor, and that he had in mind. I remember him telling me that ‘kaam ek jaisa nahin hona chahiye’.”
He said social work became his father’s focus in his final years, and that he plans to continue it. “He did Khamoshi because he wanted to show that Nana can deliver his best without those heavy dialogues associated with his numerous characters. More recently, it was social work that kept him at peace and happy; working on bringing schools to Kashmir and also working towards farmers was all that had been going on. And that is now my prerogative, too,” he said.