South Indian actor Sruthi Hariharan on Saturday accused her co-star Arjun Sarja of ‘inappropriate’ and ‘sexually coloured’ conduct during the shooting of Vismaya, a bilingual film, in 2016. The latter has denied the allegation and threatened a defamation suit.
Joining the #MeToo campaign in a Facebook post, Ms. Hariharan detailed the alleged incident that happened on the sets of the film and the discomfort she was subjected to during the production. She also described how it had affected her. She said, “Henceforth, I think Mr. Arjun Sarja needs to make sure he doesn’t cross the thin line between two actors and use his position of power to cause another person discomfort or hurt.”
On the need to make such stories known, she said, “I choose to do this publicly because this movement is more than you and me and our individual experiences. It is a collective voice to question an existing system of power play and to call a spade for what it is. The point is to be part of a larger battle against years of female oppression and abuse. It is a movement to make sure no man ever takes a woman’s personal space for granted, whoever she is to him.”
However, Mr. Sarja denied the allegations and accused Ms. Hariharan of ‘misusing’ the #MeToo campaign. Mr Sarja told the media that he had decided to take legal recourse by filing a defamation case against Ms. Hariharan.
“I have acted with many women actors in the last many years and no one has levelled an allegation of this kind against me. I have great regards for the #MeToo campaign. But the campaign is being misused. I did not want to react to Ms. Hariharan’s allegation. But then I felt that silence on my part would be construed to admitting to it. I have decided to file a defamation case against her allegations,” Mr. Sarja said.
Director Arun Vaidyanathan expressed shock at the developments. “Arjun Sir is a perfect gentleman on sets who is a professional when it comes to the craft of acting. The same applies to Sruthi too,” he said in a Facebook post. He said the scene referred to was much more intimate when written than when it was shot finally. He added that Arjun requested him to tone it down during the scripting stage itself.
He said, “What transpired between two adults outside my set or personally between them over calls or chats, unless or otherwise brought to my attention as a complaint, I can’t comment on the same and it’s not right too.”
Published - October 20, 2018 10:45 pm IST
