Bollywood’s Singham Ajay Devgn has reacted to actress Tanushree Dutta’s allegations where she had slammed him for working with actor Alok Nath in his upcoming release ‘De De Pyaar De’. Last year during the ongoing #MeToo movement writer Vinta Nanda accused the actor of raping her when they worked together for television series ‘Tara’. When Alok Nath was seen in the trailer of the Ajay Devgn starrer many were left shocked.
Tanushree Dutta soon wrote an open letter calling the film industry, “full of liars, showoffs and spineless hypocrites.” She also slammed Ajay Devgn for working with Alok Nath and wrote, “Overrated actors and human beings who have created clout by clever PR machinery and careful manipulation of public sentiments, old stuffy morons who can’t tell the difference between what’s right and wrong and what is the need of the hour!”
Finally, Ajay Devgn has reacted to the allegations with an official statement regarding the whole matter. The actor said, “When the entire #MeToo Movement happened, I along with many of my film industry colleagues categorically expressed that I respect every single woman at the workplace and I would not stand for any unfairness or atrocity against them. Nothing about my stand has changed. Coming to the question of having worked with Mr Alok Nath in my upcoming film De De Pyar De, here I must put certain things in perspective.”
“This film was supposed to be an October 2018 release. The shoot of the film got over by last September. The portions with Mr. Alok Nath were canned by August in Manali. The said portions were shot over 40 days across various sets and an outdoor location with a combination of over 10 actors. By the time the allegations came out (in October 2018) the actors in the film including me had already started work on other films. It would be near impossible to get all the dates and combinations of the several actors in the film and attempt a re-shoot with some other actor replacing Mr Nath. It would also have been a huge monetary loss for the producers. Everyone is aware that film-making is a collaborative process. The decision to replace Mr Alok Nath could never have been mine alone. In this case, I would have to go with the joint-decision of the entire unit. Not to forget, I could not have brought the entire combination of actors back or put up sets again for a 40-day re-shoot because this would mean doubling the budget, which again wasn’t my call to make. It would have to be the call of the makers. Had circumstances played out even slightly differently, I would have pushed for a different combination of actors. Unfortunately, this was not to be.”
“I reiterate I am extremely sensitive to the #MeToo movement. But when circumstances are beyond me, I don’t see why an attempt is being made to `single’ me out as being insensitive. This is untrue.”
‘De De Pyaar De’ starring Ajay Devgn, Tabu and Rakul Preet will release on May 17 May 2019.
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