The MeToo movement gained momentum in India after Tanushree Dutta outed Nana Patekar in September 2018. Since then, Tanushree’s words have been encouraging other women in the country to speak up against sexual harassment. Many women from the film fraternity have come forward to reveal their stories and to support the survivors.
After keeping quiet for 19 years, on October 8, 2018, filmmaker and the director of the 90s’ iconic show Tara, Vinta Nanda revealed her #MeToo story in a Facebook post accusing Alok Nath of rape and harassment. In her post, she also mentioned that Alok Nath was an alcoholic and was sacked from the show for assaulting the lead actress.
Vinta Nanda was one of the most popular directors, producers and writers of the 90s. Her serial was a huge hit and was much ahead of its time. Vinta’s show narrated the story of a businesswoman, Tara, played by Navneet Nishant, who was having an affair with a married man, Deepak Seth, played by Alok Nath. Vinta shared that after a house party, 19 years ago, Alok Nath insisted on dropping her home and sexually assaulted her in her house.
Vinta has filed a case against Alok Nath. After recording Vinta’s statement, the Oshiwara police had registered an FIR against the actor under Section 376 of the IPC. As per the sources, Alok Nath will be summoned for inquiries later this week. Earlier, Alok Nath had also filed a defamation case against Vinta Nanda of Re 1.
In a session with Barkha Dutt, Vinta Nanda said, “I had filed a police complaint. It took three weeks for them to call me back and say, ‘Yes we will now file an FIR,’ which happened last week. Along with the filing of the FIR, which normally should’ve led to him being arrested or investigated, now the onus is back on me.”
Image Source: The Pioneer
Vinta revealed that she will have to go through a physical medical test now. She said, “I will have to go for a physical medical test now, 20 years later. I read in the paper today where they’ve said I have to undergo a medical check and only then they will be able to proceed with the case.”
When Vinta opened up about Alok Nath’s unacceptable behaviour, many women came in her support including Renuka Shahane, Sandhya Mridul and Deepika Amin. Actors Deven Bhojani and Navneet Nishan also stood by her.
She further revealed that back in those days she didn’t have the courage to go up to the police and file a rape case. “Silence manifests in different ways. If you’re not the kind of person to be silent, if you are the person who confronts things and deals with them in an empowered way, you are worse off dealing with the silence within you because you’ve internalised something which isn’t natural to you at all. I attribute my attitude of mistrust and negativity with which I have lived it to silence, which got released when I posted that on Facebook. A lot of friends ask me today what has happened to you, we are having cinema conversations with you now,” she added.
Vinta also shared why in those days going to the police wasn’t even an option for her. The writer and filmmaker said, “I did take him on in that sense. We went to his house and spoke to his wife back then but she said she can’t do anything about it. She was probably as helpless. Going to the police wasn’t an option for me. I just didn’t have the courage. I was so terrified.”
Apart from Alok Nath and Nana Patekar, many popular names like Vikas Bahl, Sajid Khan and Abhijeet Bhattacharya came up when the Pandora’s Box of MeToo opened in India. Read the full list of accused here.
To know more about the MeToo movement in India, click here.
Featured Image Source: NDTV
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