- Tanushree Dutta questioned the circumstances surrounding Nana Patekar's death and last rites timing
- Nana Patekar died on October 8 at age 75
- Tanushree alleged no Bollywood or media personnel saw Patekar's body before cremation
Tanushree Dutta has questioned the circumstances surrounding Nana Patekar's death, claiming that no one from Bollywood or the media saw his body before the last rites.
During an Instagram Live on Monday night, the actor also questioned whether Nana's family had seen his body properly and why his last rites were performed in the middle of the night.
Nana Patekar died of a heart attack on October 8 at the age of 75. His last rites were performed at his farmhouse in Donje village, near Pune.
During the Instagram Live, Tanushree said, "In the Bollywood industry and in the media, no one has seen the body of Nana Patekar. And what was the hurry? In the middle of the night to perform the last rites?"
For the unversed, Nana Patekar's last rites took place on October 8 at his farmhouse at 11: 28 PM.
She questioned why no prayer meeting was held for the veteran actor, saying that people from the film industry and the media should have had an opportunity to pay their respects.
Tanushree alleged, "Such a big legend, such a great person. There should have been a prayer meet so that Bollywood people and media personnel could come, see the body, and pay their respects. Like in Hindu tradition, people attend the meet, touch the body, bow before it, and see the deceased with their own eyes."
Tanushree also questioned whether Nana's family had seen his face before the cremation. She pointed out that several celebrities had posted tributes to the actor on social media.
"No one in Bollywood saw the body. Many people posted tributes on social media, but did they actually see the body? Did the family see it properly? Whose last rites were performed? His face was covered. Villagers may not ask such questions, but others do."
The actor also questioned why no photographs or videos of Nana being taken to hospital had surfaced.
"Even when I had an accident, photographs and videos surfaced. But here, not a single video emerged of Nana Patekar. He was taken to the hospital, declared dead there, and a post-mortem was conducted."
Tanushree also raised questions about the timing of the last rites, referring to Hindu traditions surrounding cremation.
"In our religion, last rites are generally not performed after sunset. So why was the cremation conducted in the middle of the night? What was the hurry? Why perform the last rites in the darkness of the night?"
Tanushree went on to claim that the body cremated was not Nana's and speculated that the actor could still be alive in Singapore or Malaysia. She alleged that he had staged his death and obtained a fake death certificate to escape legal proceedings. These claims have not been independently established.
She also suggested that a DNA test should be conducted if he had changed his appearance.
On October 8, a large crowd gathered at the GMC morgue in Bambolim to pay their last respects to Nana Patekar.
Tanushree earlier accused Nana Patekar of sexually harassing her when they were shooting a special song for their film Horn 'Ok' Pleassss. The veteran actor, on the other hand, denied all the claims. She had first made the allegations against the actor in 2008 by filing a complaint with the Cine and TV Artistes Association, but no action was taken as the case was considered a criminal matter.
On October 13, 2018, Tanushree Dutta's advocate, Nitin Satpute, submitted an application at the Oshiwara police station in Mumbai, saying that actor Nana Patekar, choreographer Ganesh Acharya, producer Samee Siddiqui and director Rakesh Sarang be made to undergo narco-analysis, brain-mapping and lie-detector tests.
In June 2019, Nana Patekar was cleared of the sexual harassment charges by the police.
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