Actress Tanushree Dutta, known as one of the first voices in India’s #MeToo movement, has spoken up after a video of her crying went viral on social media. In the emotional video, she is sitting on a couch and crying, while saying she is being harassed even in her own home.
In the video, she said, “I’m being harassed in my own house. I just called the police. They told me to come to the police station to file a complaint. I’ll probably go tomorrow or the day after. I’m not well. I’ve been harassed so much in the past five years that my health has suffered.”
Now, Tanushree Dutta has explained what led her to post the video. Speaking to ANI, she said it was not a performance or some kind of publicity stunt, it was a real and painful moment captured on camera.
“That video was an emotional reaction. I was overwhelmed. I’ve gone through a lot in the past five years. Strange and scary things have been happening to me,” she said.
She revealed that after she spoke up during the #MeToo movement in 2018, her life changed, but not for the better.
“After 2018, a lot of serious things started happening around me. I was in a car accident, my brakes failed. There were times I felt something was added to my food to make me sick. There were also strange people doing things outside my home. I didn’t understand it at first, but slowly I realised this was real and not just my imagination,” Tanushree shared.
When asked if anyone from Bollywood reached out to support her, she said sadly, “I don’t have any friends. And the few contacts I did have, they disappeared when all this started happening.”
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Many people on the internet have dismissed her video as “drama” or “acting.” But Tanushree brushed off such comments. “People have been saying this since 2008, and again in 2018. They always say I’m acting. But who are these people? What do they know about what I’m going through?”
Responding to those who claimed she made the video to get attention or go viral, Tanushree said she doesn’t need to do that. “There are so many ways to go viral. I don’t need to cry on camera to get fame. I’m already known. I’m Tanushree Dutta. I was Miss India Universe.”
Tanushree first came into the spotlight when she won the Femina Miss India Universe title in 2004. After that, she acted in several successful Bollywood films like ‘Aashiq Banaya Apne’, ‘Bhagam Bhag’, and ‘Dhol’.
But it was in 2018 that she made headlines again for sharing her experience of harassment, which helped spark the #MeToo movement in India. That brave act opened the door for many other women in the film industry to speak out.
Now, years later, she says she’s still paying the price for speaking up.