Choreographer Ganesh Acharya on Tanushree Dutta #MeToo Case: Won't Support False Allegations

Choreographer Ganesh Acharya, who has been accused of supporting actor Nana Patekar in the Tanushree Dutta sexual harassment case, has finally broken his silence on the allegations.

Talking about the #MeToo movement at the launch of his dance academy GADA in Mumbai, Ganesh said, "Whatever is right is right. I will never support a person who has lied to all of us and support a false allegation. But I must say that #MeToo is a great movement to expose the culprits who have done wrong to women."

He continued, "But I would like to highlight this that the Tanushree case is completely false and a dramatic story. When I choreograph some song, then the artist, along with the dancers' crew, do rehearsals about five days prior to the shooting. If any harassment had happened, how come other actors and crew members were not aware about it?"

Tanushree had accused Patekar of misbehaving with her on the set of a film in 2008, in which she was supposed to do a special dance number. The actress claimed that Patekar made her uncomfortable to the extent that she eventually had to opt out of doing the song.

She had also accused Acharya, who was the choreographer of the song, film’s director Rakesh Sarang and producer Samee Siddique of ganging up against her and witnessing everything happening, without doing anything about it.

The Chikni Chameli choreographer also said at the launch event that Tanushree had complained to the women's commission and he and Patekar had to explain and defend themselves against the false allegations.

"But I appreciate the #MeToo movement and I support those women who have been the victims. I also have a mother, a sister, a daughter and a wife at home and I respect women. I have seen many ups and downs during this movement and have learned how to tackle it," he added.

He even quoted a lesson he's learnt from Amitabh Bachchan.

"I have learnt one thing from Amitabh Bachchan - Main ladna janta hoon, aur ladkar girna janta hoon, lekin girkar haarna nahi janta. Ek din phir khade hokar ladna janta hoon, aur ek din jeet jaunga yeh bhi janta hoon. I have written these lines on paper and this is my only mantra to tackle and deal with every situation in my life," he said.