The trailer for Ajay Devgn’s upcoming film De De Pyaar De was released on April 1. Although it received rave reviews from Ajay’s fans, a lot of Twitter users criticised the actor and the film’s producer Bhushan Kumar for casting Alok Nath in the movie. Ajay also received a lot of flak from actress Tanushree Dutta, the flag bearer of the #MeToo movement in India, for working with an actor who has been accused of sexual harassment by several women in the film industry.
Source: YouTube
In the wake of #MeToo movement, numerous Bollywood bigshots were called out on social media by people against charges of sexual harassment. Alok Nath, the allegedly sanskari baapu ji of Bollywood, was accused of rape by writer-producer Vinta Nanda in October 2018. A case was lodged against him, but he was granted anticipatory bail. Actors Himani Shivpuri, Sandhya Mridul and Deepika Amin shared their own stories of being harassment by him.
Source: Instagram
A lot of Bollywood stars came out to support all the women who had been previously harassed. Even Ajay Devgn took to Twitter to ensure that he stands in solidarity with the survivors.
However, the trailer De De Pyaar De, which also features Alok Nath, seems to have caused quite a stir. Commenting on this ‘turn of events’, Tanushree Dutta accused Ajay of supporting Alok to make a comeback. In a statement, the Bhagam Bhag actress even called Ajay spineless and a hypocrite, “Tinsel town is full of liars, show-offs and spineless hypocrites. And it seems by a large public consensus that the signpost is pointing currently at Ajay Devgn.”
Commenting on Alok Nath continuing to work in Bollywood despite the ongoing case against him, Tanushree said that the film’s makers should’ve re-shot the part of the film that featured Alok, “Before the posters and trailer, nobody knew that Alok Nath was in the film so if Ajay Devgn and the makers wanted they could have just quietly replaced him and re-shot his portions.”
Source: YouTube
In Hollywood, when Kevin Spacey was accused by actor Anthony Rapp of making sexual advances toward him when Rapp was 14, the actor was cast out of the final season of House Of Cards despite the fact that the entire series revolved, and gained popularity, because of Spacey’s presence. In Bollywood, it isn’t working the same way. “They had to keep the alleged rapist in their film and rub it on not only (accuser Vinta Nanda’s) but on all our faces,” said an enraged Tanushree.
After Tanushree Dutta called out Ajay Devgn, even Vinta Nanda herself slammed the actor for working with #MeToo accused Alok Nath. She expressed her displeasure in an interview and said, “Don’t expect anything from Ajay Devgan. I don’t think he is in any position to take a stand. The money riding on the project is the only Dharma for them.” She added, “When it comes to the box office, nobody follows any other religion. There is no right or wrong. Their politics and ideologies go for a toss. Their reluctance to take action is the giveaway (of their intentions).”
What irked everyone the most was Ajay’s refusal to comment on Alok Nath’s involvement in the film. During promotions, when producer Luv Ranjan’s comment was sought, Ajay intervened saying, “This is not the right place to talk about it. Jinki aap baat kar rahe hai woh film uske pehle complete hui (the film was complete before the allegations surfaced against the person).”
Even Twitterati slammed Ajay for his choice of continuing to work with Alok Nath.
Source: Twitter
When Alok Nath was asked for a quote, he said, “I don’t want to talk anything about De De Pyaar De.” Last year, Vinta Nanda accused Alok Nath of raping her nearly 19 years ago when they worked together. However, he denied all of Vinta’s allegations.
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