Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce The incident is turning into a “whose-side-are-you-on” game rather than about addressing sexual harassment
Bengaluru: In a bid to settle the matter between actors Sruthi Hariharan and Arjun Sarja, the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) attempted to resolve the allegations of sexual harassment and defamation between the two.
Sruthi had alleged that Arjun had touched her inappropriately while rehearsing a scene in the bilingual film Vismaya. She had said, "During the rehearsal, we delivered our lines and Mr. Arjun hugs me. With no forewarning or permission, he runs his hands intimately up and down my back. He pulls me closer with my body taut against his and asks the director if we could use this idea of foreplay in the scene,"
However, Arjun denied it and his father-in-law, Rajesh filed a complaint with the KFCC, alleging that Hariharan’s allegations were defamatory. He has filed two cases against her including a defamation case for Rs 5 crore.
Meanwhile, the meeting seemed to be unsuccessful as Sarja came out of the talks saying that he would be “victorious in the battle” and this would be a “lesson to all those who plan to malign the reputation of actors”.
While an equally charged Sruthi said, “I am the one who has been wronged. I respect KFCC and since they have asked me to hold off filing a complaint till Friday, I will respect that. I will announce my decision once the meeting is over. I wanted to file a complaint when I came out with my story but since the Film Chamber members told me to hold off for a while, I respected that."
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