Tanushree Dutta: Bollywood actress shares her sexual harassment story

'I was disillusioned, traumatised and walked away'

The actress has reignited a row about sexism (AP)

A row over sexual harassment has broken out in Bollywood after an actress said that one of her co-stars harassed and threatened her on a film set in 2008.

Tanushree Dutta repeated the allegations, which were made public at the time to little attention, in an interview with Zoom TV.

She said that Nana Patekar, a veteran Bollywood performer, harassed her while she taped a dance sequence for the film Horn ‘Ok’ Pleassss.

"He had no business being on set, it was my solo sequence," she said.

"But there he was… pulling me with my arms, teaching me the dance."

Dutta told IANS that after she refused to film with Patekar, the actor called members of a far-right state political party to come to the set and "bash up" her car.

The crowd of men allegedly surrounded Dutta and her family, who were in the car, and attacked the vehicle, eventually shattering its window, according to The Indian Express.

Patekar denies the allegations.

The former Miss India left the set and for a few days the accusations were widely discussed, before vanishing.

A decade on they are once again dominating news in India and Dutta's comments have led to witnesses publicly supporting her for the first time.

Shyni Shetty, the film's assistant director and Janice Sequeira, a journalist, were both on set on the day of the incident and say Dutta's account is accurate.

Many Bollywood stars voiced their support for Dutta on Twitter.

"The world needs to #BelieveSurvivors" wrote the actress Priyanka Chopra.

She retweeted a post by the actor Farhan Akhtar, who said Dutta's "courage should be admired, not her intention questioned".

Patekar has threatened Dutta with legal action and other actors have avoided taking sides when asked about the controversy.

“Neither is my name Tanushree Dutta nor Nana Patekar​," the famous Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan said, when asked about the story.

Aamir Khan, another actor, said that without knowing about the incident, he could not comment.

"People called and supported me, but there was no public reaction, no condemnation," the actress told the Hindustan Times.

"I was disillusioned, traumatised and walked away," she said.

She has decided not to return to Bollywood in the future.