Actress Tanushree Dutta, known for her roles in films like Aashiq Banaya Apne and Good Boy Bad Boy, recently opened up about a troubling experience she had while working with director Vivek Agnihotri on the 2005 film Chocolate. Speaking to Faridoon Shahryar, Dutta shared how she felt harassed and uncomfortable due to Agnihotri’s behavior on set.
Dutta recalled an incident where she arrived on set just five minutes late, only to be met with an unexpected outburst from Agnihotri.
“One day, when I arrived on set five minutes late, he yelled at me and called me unprofessional. Sometimes, I would come to the set when the lights weren’t even on, and nothing was prepared, meaning the setup was completely unready. But on that particular day, I was exactly five minutes late, and he was on set just to see whether I had arrived or not,” she recounted.
The actress further detailed how she was treated on set, particularly regarding her wardrobe, which included revealing outfits. She explained that actors are typically allowed to rest in their vans when not shooting, especially when wearing costumes that are less comfortable. However, Dutta said this was not the case for her on Chocolate.
“Artists are supposed to rest in the van when they’re not shooting. Especially if you’ve given me clothes like these—short clothes and so on. Even when I sat in a robe, he would say, ‘No, there’s a shot coming up, so take it off.’ He would make me sit in those short clothes in front of the entire unit,” Dutta disclosed.
Chocolate, a multi-starrer film, also featured Anil Kapoor, Suniel Shetty, Emraan Hashmi, Irrfan Khan, Arshad Warsi, and Sushma Reddy in prominent roles. Despite its ensemble cast, Dutta’s disturbing experience on the set sheds light on the challenges and inappropriate treatment she faced during its production.