Meet the woman behind India's #MeToo movement

Published on12-Oct-2018

"Time's up" for Bollywood?

Khushboo Razdan

"When I shared my story ten years back, I was slut shamed, threatened and forced to quit the industry," Bollywood actress Tanushree Dutta told CGTN in an exclusive interview.

The former Miss India went public last month with an allegation of sexual assault in 2008 by her co-star and veteran actor Nana Patekar during the shooting of a film.

"He was grabbing me by the arms, pushing me around" Tanushree told CGTN, adding that he was forcing the film's choreographer to include an intimate sequence with her.

Patekar has denied all the allegations, saying, "This case is 10 years old, what was true then is true today."

But Tanushree claims things are different now. "Something has changed, [the] #MeToo movement in the West has changed people's mindset in Bollywood" said Tanushree whose allegations triggered the #MeToo movement in India.

Last year, the #MeToo movement rocked Hollywood, leading to the downfall of several top producers and high profile actors. Now a deluge of allegations of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavior has shaken the 1.2 billion US dollar Indian film industry.

"I am surprised and gratified to witness what's going on, companies are being dissolved, big producers and directors are being sacked, films are being dropped from platforms," a thrilled Tanushree told CGTN.

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