Tanushree Dutta seeks Hema Committee-like report for Bollywood too

Actor Tanushree Dutta, who initially brushed off the Justice K Hema Committee report as “useless”, has sought a similar report for sexual harassment and abuse of women in Bollywood.

The Hema Committee report has revealed some dark details about the Kerala film industry, including sexual harassment and abuse of women, gender discrimination, and an all-powerful movie mafia.

Tanushree, who famously filed a sexual harassment complaint against veteran actor Nana Patekar, was at the forefront of the Me-Too movement in India in 2018.

In an interview to Zoom, she said she had been stalked and “untoward incidents” had happened to her frequently after the Me-Too movement in 2018. She also claimed that there had been covert attempts to assassinate her and hurt her.

Solution begins with knowledge

She admitted that she had “jumped the gun” with her initial reaction and didn’t quite understand what the report really was. “Now I feel a similar report on Bollywood would be very useful and is urgently needed,” she said in the interview.

A similar demand has been raised by the Kannada film industry too.

Tanushree added that any solution to an issue begins with the knowledge of it, and therein lies the value of the Hema Committee report.

Tanushree said she had initially thought that the Hema Committee report was like the Vishaka committee guidelines — an internal complaints committee that aims to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.

“There was so much talk about it but nothing much happened later. But I maintain that we need perpetrators to fear the law. We women are living in fear,” she said in the Zoom interview.