After filmmaker Sajid Khan announced early on Friday he was stepping down as director of Housefull 4 amid allegations of sexual misconduct, Nana Patekar has also reportedly dropped out of the project.
Times of India reports that Patekar exited the film after having been under intense scrutiny since Tanushree Dutta reiterated her 2008 accusation of being sexually harassed by the senior actor on the sets of Horn OK Pleassss.
The Mumbai Police has lodged an FIR against Patekar and three others on the basis of Dutta's allegations and begun investigations, her lawyer Nitin Satpute said on Thursday. The FIR in the 10-year old case was lodged under Sections 353 and 503 of the Indian Penal Code on Wednesday night.
Satpute said that at her insistence, police on Thursday recorded Dutta's statement in English instead of Marathi as she did not want a repeat of what happened 10 years ago. In 2008, Tanushree's father Tapan Kumar Dutta had lodged a complaint with the Oshiwara Police but no progress was achieved.
The lawyer also submitted a 40-page statement on the alleged incident to police and Maharashtra State Women's Commission (MSWC). Besides Nana Patekar, she has also named some alleged Maharashtra Navnirman Sena workers who tried to attack her and damaged her vehicle last week.
Tanushree first spoke about Nana's misbehaviour in 2008. Two weeks ago she recounted her experience in the wake of the global #MeToo movement. She said that she was sexually harassed by the actor during the shooting of a dance sequence for Horn Ok Pleassss at the Filmistan Studio in Mumbai. She said she was forced into silence a decade ago.