Actress alleges harassment, claims to be 'fired' without being paid

Kannada actress Avantika Shetty accuses producer of harassment, claims to be 'fired' without pay

Avantika Shetty. Pic/Avantika Shetty's Facebook account

Kannada actress Avantika Shetty has accused producer K Suresh of harassing her on the sets of 'Raju Kannada Medium'. She also claims that she was kicked out of the film without being paid despite almost completing the shoot.

Avantika Shetty shared her ordeal on Facebook and Twitter. In a note titled 'Are women really safe in the film industry?', Avantika revealed that she has become yet another victim of 'objectification' by certain kind of men in the industry.

Avantika wrote, "I recently read an article with fabricated content provided by Mr Suresh. It ruthlessly maligns my name, making all sorts of baseless allegations and projects my character in poor light, a trait which has remained intact and will remain so all my life."

"The problem started from the very first schedule of the film when I sensed that it wasn't my performance the producer and the director were really bothered about. I obviously ignored them and remained totally engrossed in giving my best to the character," she wrote.

Avantika recalls, "I had almost completed the film and a very small portion which was to be shot in Bangkok was left. The next thing I know, I was unceremoniously asked to leave back to Mumbai citing my average performance in the film as the reason, which surprisingly came up after I asked them about a bounced cheque. Half of my dues weren't cleared, a presented cheque bounced and I was certain that the producer will release the film without me dubbing for it and he will get some dubbing artiste to do the job. Luckily for me, having an exclusive right to dub is part of the contract I signed with the producer."

In the note, Avantika Shetty said that she has approached the court in Karnataka with her case. She further said that she wrote an elaborate letter with a detailed account of her experience with K Suresh to Karnataka Film Chamber, but she hasn't received any response yet.

Read Avantika Shetty's entire post here:

Also read: 14 actresses speak out on sexual harassment