Happy Birthday Tanushree Dutta: How She Opened The Pandora’s Box Of India’s Me Too Movement

India’s Me Too Movement was not an accident; it was not a pre-planned move. It was years of pain that Tanushree Dutta had finally poured out which opened the Pandora’s Box. First, there was Nana Patekar, then Alok Nath, then more women started calling out all those men who had molested them, harassed them, mentally tortured them and even raped them, only to get away. That is until their names became a part of a movement that opened up those eyes that had been shut all those ears, mouths that didn’t know what to say, ears that chose not to listen. Finally, a wave had hit the Indian consciousness, and when it began, there was just one name - Tanushree Dutta. She finally broke the silence to name a senior actor Nana Patekar and choreographer Ganesh Acharya but she did not get much support from the big names in Bollywood back then. She got threats and was labelled a slut by crazy fans of the accused but she carried on. Her voice was strong and it created echoes that will continue to resonate for a long time.

The Skeletons Tumbled Out Of The Closet

The most sanskaari purush on telly and the big screen, Alok Nath’s name popped up as a rapist after producer Vinta Nanda accused him of raping her. But the battle had only begun.

Female photojournalist Natasha Hemrajani accused Bollywood singer Kailash Kher of sexual harassment as she kept touching her inappropriately during an interview. Singer Sona Mohapatra had allegations against him too.

After a woman accused Queen director Vikas Bahl of sexually assaulting her in 2015, Kangana Ranaut also spoke out about how Vikas used to hug her tightly, burying his head in her neck, smell her hair and say inappropriate things. In the light of these accusations, it was revealed that Phantom, Films of which Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Madhu Matena were a part of, was dissolved because of his behaviour.

The goody-good actor Rajat Kapoor who had an untainted record so far was accused by two women of misbehaving with them during an interview. It came to light after journalist Sandhya Menon shared a post on social media.

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Another Wave Of #MeToo Movement Begins

Accusations were levelled against All India Bakchod comedian Utsav Chakraborty for sending explicit images to women and asking for nude pictures from minor girls.

Actor Saloni Chopra named Sajid Khan, Zain Durrani, and Vikas Bahl. Her allegations ranged from sexual harassment, violence, sexism and the big, bad bane of Bollywood – casting couch. After she revealed everything, other women from the industry such as Bipasha Basu also called our Sajid’s behaviour even as his sister kept saying that she was heartbroken at the ‘Trial by Twitter’.

Anu Malik, Subhash Ghai, Rohit Roy, Abhijeet Bhattacharya, Bhushan Kumar, Varun Grover,and MJ Akbar were the other names that popped up amidst a sea of allegations. While most of the accused categorically denied that such incidents ever happened, some said that they thought it must have been a misunderstanding. But one thing was so sure; women finally knew that if they speak up, their voices will not be silenced, their careers will not be over and they will get death threats but they will be meaningless and they will inspire action against the perpetrators. All because one woman decided to speak up.

Tanushree Dutta, a big salute to you!

Have things totally changed in our country? Then how come we still have cases like Pollachi sexual assault and why, as Zoya Akhtar says, does cinema have a wrong portrayal of sex? A change of mindset will still need several years, it seems.

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