Harassment in Bollywood isn’t a new concept, it is an underlying truth that is often muffled by the glitters and glory of stardom. The muffles that are only heard when a brave soul decides to put career, pride and image at risk and raise its voice against the atrocities that hide behind the veil of dreams and opportunity. Tanushree Dutta, was one such soul that decided to break this cycle of silence when she recently called out a former co-star for sexual harassment back in the year 2008, on the sets of ‘Horn OK Please!’
This act ignited spark to the flame that has now pioneered the #metoo movement in India. Following her brave act, several women within (and outside) the industry mustered the strength to speak up and bring to light similar issues about the varying degrees of harassment they faced over the years, working with/for powerful names in the industry. #metoo took India by storm and consequentially, revived old rumors and gave light to new names. The movement created waves throughout the industry as big industry names such as Nana Patekar, Sajid Khan, Vikas Bahl, Alok Nath, among others, were brought to light. The domino effect that unveiled and raised awareness regarding the corrupt and tyrannical oppression faced by young actors and actresses within the industry brought the former actress great praise for her contribution to this cause.
The actress faced a ton of public retaliation at the hands of the perpetrator when she tried to take a stand against the on set harassment initially. She witnessed her reputation being torn to shreds and career destroyed as a sole consequence of her protest against harassment. Receiving no support from law enforcement or others in the industry who feared speaking against the veteran Bollywood personality, Tanushree Dutta decided to take a long break from the limelight that left her broken in spirit. She set herself on a journey of self discovery for over a decade before returning to India and calling out her decade old oppressor in the media.
Dutta currently lives in Boston, Massachusetts in the United States of America, where she is fairly active on social media, sharing slices of her daily life with her fans. In a great turn of events, she recently got to her Instagram with news about attending the India Conference 2019, a flagship event at Harvard Business School in Boston – US, where she has been requested to give a speech. “Invited to speak at the Harvard Business School in Boston Massachusetts. India Conference 2019 on feb 16, a flagship event organized by the graduate students of Harvard Business school and Harvard Kennedy school” – she captioned her Instagram post.
The former Miss Universe – India shall speak about the lows of her life as a consequence of the, now infamous, 2008 incident and how it threw her into the depths of chaos. She shall speak about the importance of determination and how it served as a catalyst in her journey through those testing times, pushing her towards a path of acceptance, healing and self-discovery, which inevitably, brought her life back full circle. The order that she had once lost to chaos, is finally restored and has helped countless others in the process.