‘Incidents of sexual harassment of female actors unfortunate’

Kolkata :  Bollywood actor Vinay Pathak on Friday said the incidents of sexual harassment of female actors are very unfortunate and should not mar a woman’s talent.

He said this here while reacting to the ongoing controversy surrounding actress Tanushree Dutta’s claim of sexual harassment.

Tanushree, who had first made the allegation against veteran actor Nana Patekar in 2008, put the spotlight once again on her unsavoury experience of working with the actor in the film “Horn ‘Ok’ Pleassss”, through a recent interview.

“I do not know them personally and cannot comment on him or her. But I think it is very unfortunate, absolutely wrong and it’s not done. I think if it happens with women who are very integral part of our industry, is very unfortunate,” Pathak told IANS on the sidelines of the grand finale of the Digital Storytelling workshop led by Amy Hill from a California-based NGO, StoryCenter.

The actor also noted it is not everybody who indulges in such acts, and said he stands against any sort of violence.

“Women in the film industry are brave for the very fact that they face such things and still they achieve and accomplish so much,” he said.

“An incident like this should not mar the talent of a brave woman. I think everybody including the production house, the directors and actors all should oppose it,” said Pathak, who was in the city as part of a judge’s panel that included actor Churni Ganguly and film-maker Anindita Sarbadicari.

Twenty four two-minute short films created by youth leaders from India and Bangladesh were screened at the event on Friday.

A film entitled “Eggs” by Sanjukta Sarkar, that dealt with silent discrimination between girls and boys emerged as the best film.

Sudeshna Roy, filmmaker and member of the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child, said “the conversation on gender-based violence had started long back and it will go on”.

Published on: Sep 28, 2018 at 20:06 IST

IANS