NEW DELHI: "Is this a joke?" read a tweet from Swara Bhasker on Thursday, "Who takes pictures with goons that threaten vandalism?" The actress, one of the first celebrities to publicly support Tanushree Dutta who renewed a decade-old allegation of harassment against Nana Patekar over a week ago, was referring to a picture of members of the youth wing of the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena or MNS handing over a letter to the makers of reality show Bigg Boss, the 12th season of which is currently airing.
The occasion hardly merited the photo-op - the letter contained a threat to violently disrupt proceedings in the Bigg Boss house in Lonavla, the setting for the reality show, were Tanushree Dutta let in. There has been speculation recently that Ms Dutta would participate in the show, hosted on weekends by Salman Khan. MNS is at the epicentre of Ms Dutta's accusations, which claim that Mr Patekar sent thugs from the political outfit after Ms Dutta when she rejected his alleged advances on a film set in 2008.
Swara Bhasker, known for her fiery outspokenness on social media, is outraged, for one.
Tanushree Dutta was rumoured to be a possible Bigg Boss contestant this season even before she named Nana Patekar, who has sent her a legal notice demanding she apologise. Bigg Boss alumnus Rakhi Sawant, who replaced Ms Dutta in the song during the filming of which she was allegedly harassed, has defended Mr Patekar and accused Ms Dutta of seeking publicity and a spot in the Bigg Boss 12 line-up.
Tanushree Dutta has also received a legal notice from filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri who, she claims, asked her to strip on the sets of 2005 film Chocolate. She described the legal notices as "the price for speaking out against harassment." Mr Agnihotri has tangled with Swara Bhasker in the past - in September, Ms Bhasker called out Vivek Agnihotri for posting offensive tweets about her and his account was temporarily suspended.
Tanushree Dutta first accused Nana Patekar of harassment 10 years ago and received an apology this week from the film body she complained to, acknowledging that she had been ignored. Two women who say they were on set the day Ms Dutta was harassed have backed much of what she has said. Mr Patekar's defenders include Maharashtra Home Minister Deepak Kesarkar and choreographer Ganesh Acharya.