- By Ridhi Suri
- Sat, 24 Aug 2024 09:19 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Bengali actress Sreelekha Mitra accused Ranjith, the renowned filmmaker and chairperson of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, of inappropriate behaviour during the pre-production of the 2009 Malayalam film 'Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha. She revealed that during a meeting at an apartment with Ranjith and his team to discuss a potential role, she experienced unwelcome advances from him. Feeling uncomfortable, she promptly left after informing a team member that she would not be participating in the film.
This development comes as another blow to the Malayalam film industry, already reeling from the fallout of the Justice Hema Committee report. On the other hand, Ranjith has denied the allegations.
What Sreelekha Mitra said?
According to TINE, Sreelekha told media, that the incident happened when she arrived in Kerala to act in Ranjith’s film. "The filmmaker invited me to his bedroom, and during the chat he touched my bangles, pretending to be unaware about it. I was a little uncomfortable with it, but tried to continue the conversation. Upon seeing that I was not reacting, he started caressing my neck, which was unacceptable. I excused myself and left the room."
"It was traumatic, and I was not able to share the incident with anyone. After the incident, I stayed in the hotel with fear, thinking, what if 10 people come and knock on my door? I was waiting for the daylight to break in," she added.
The actress also mentioned that she was not given any travel tickets to return to her hometown. After the incident, she decided to halt her pursuit of Malayalam film opportunities. Sreelekha stated that she was not surprised, acknowledging that such occurrences are common in the film industry globally.
Ranjith Denies
Ranjith has denied the allegations, claiming that Sreelekha Mitra was upset about being rejected for the role. He explained that her frustration led her to speak angrily to his associate director, Shankar Ramakrishnan, who then relayed the message to her.
The director further stated that he met Sreelekha at his flat in Ernakulam, where he was accompanied by screenwriter Shankar Ramakrishnan and two assistants. According to Ranjith, after Shankar presented the story to Sreelekha, she appeared enthusiastic. He mentioned that he was uncertain about which character to assign to her. "Later, a decision was taken not to cast her, and Shankar was asked to inform her about it," he said, adding, "It’s not my style to tell actors outright that there are no roles."
"Shankar then told her said that I had informed him that Mitra could not be considered for the roles of either Cheeru or her daughter in Paleri Manikyam. That’s where it ended." Reacting to Sreelekha Mitra's claims, he added, "The claims about touching her bangles and hair are all made up. I don’t know whose cleverness or foolishness this is."