'Tanushree didn't report any grievance against Nana during rehearsals'

Ganesh Acharya choreographed the item number Tanushree Dutta was in. File Pics

Choreographer Ganesh Acharya who was accused by actress Tanushree Dutta in a sexual harassment case responded to the Maharashtra Women's Commission on Monday. In a 12-page letter sent by his lawyer Padma Shelatkar, Acharya has denied all allegations made by Dutta. The actress is trying to shroud her faults and inability to perform on sets and has hence come up these false allegations, he said.

Dutta has accused actor Nana Patekar of sexually harassing her on the sets of the movie Horn OK Please on March 26, 2008, and choreographer Acharya, director Rakesh Sarang and producer Samee Siddique of being complicit.

In his long response, Ganesh Acharya has said, "This wasn't a solo dance as alleged by Dutta. In fact, it was a well-planned group song with a 100 odd performers/dancers in the background and her in the lead role. The rehearsals took place from March 17-20, 2008 at Shrique Hall under my supervision. Several assistant dancers were teaching her the steps during these rehearsals. My team and I had to undergo a lot of hardships due to her finical nature. At the time of rehearsals, she did not report any grievance about performing with actor Nana Patekar."

He further denied charges of there being any derogatory steps, or lewd and vulgar sequence. "The steps were already choreographed, practised and finalised by me and the assistant dancers," he said.

According to Acharya's response, the song had a brief sentence in a male voice and hence the performance of actor Nana Patekar, being in the lead role, was picturised. "She was fully aware of it. During the filming of the song, Patekar and Dutta were performing in front of more than 200 members which included the dancers, my client, crew members, director, assistant directors, producer and the audience."

"The entire team had taken a lunch break in the middle of the shoot and the complainant stayed in her vanity van for a long time after the break. She returned on the set only after four hours and was unable to perform the dance steps properly," the response states.

Acharya's lawyer Padma Shelatkar said, "A brief explanation has been given to the women's commission as sought by them, along with our response." Earlier, Patekar had also responded to the commission but refused to give any details of it.

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