Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan recently made an extraordinary statement on his quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati by praising actress Tanushree Dutta for starting India’s own #MeToo movement. Bachchan called Tanushree Dutta’s act as ‘very brave.’
This was after Amitabh Bachchan asked his guest contestant to identify the voice of an actress and a ‘beauty queen’ who was one of the first to trigger India’s own #MeToo movement last year. In the audio, the voice was talking about sexual harassment at the workplace.
The options were Tanushree Dutta, Tina Dutta, Kangana Ranaut and Mandana Karimi. As expected, the contestant, herself a rape survivor, did not take long to correctly answer that the voice was of Tanushree Dutta.
While acknowledging that the contestant’s answer was correct, Bachchan replied, “As well being an actress, Tanushree Dutta has also been a Femina Miss India. That’s why she’s in the category of beauty queen as well as an actress.
The contestant said, “She (Tanushree) has been very brave.” Bachchan too agreed as he said, “Yes, very very brave.”
This is the first time Bachchan has acknowledged Tanushree’s role in kickstarting India’s own #MeToo movement. Bachchan had to face widespread condemnation last year for admonishing a reporter after being asked to comment on Tanushree Dutta’s allegations of sexual misconduct against Nana Patekar.
Bachchan had famously said, “Na toh mera naam Tanushree Dutta hai aur na hi Nana Patekar. (Neither is my name Tanushree Dutta nor I am called Nana Patekar.)”
Salmming Bachchan for hypocrisy, Tanushree had told Hindustan Times that she was hurt since ‘these are people who do movies on social causes.’ She had said, “But when it comes to standing up and doing something about what is happening in front of you, there are these evasive statements that don’t make sense.”
Celebrity hair stylist Sapna Bhvanani too had publicly slammed the Bollywood megastar for his questionable stand on the #MeToo movement.
