The action hero who allegedly assaulted a TV cameraman on Sunday says he was worried the footage with 'good friend' Shubha would send out wrong signals
The action hero who allegedly assaulted a TV cameraman on Sunday says he was worried the footage with 'good friend' Shubha would send out wrong signalsActor Vijay allegedly roughed up a TV cameraman on Sunday, fuelling gossip that he was trying to hide his link-up with co-star Shubha Poonja.u00a0
The hero of current hits such as Thakath and Junglee admitted to MiD DAYu00a0 he and Shubha had attended the Lakshmi Vinayaka homa in Shimoga, but denied he had assaulted anyone.u00a0
"I tried to take away their camera. I didn't hit them," he said.u00a0
News arrived last evening that Vijay, caught with Shubha, had tried to stop the news of their performing the ritual from spreading. Many in Bangalore thought they were getting married secretly. Vijay is already married and has three children.u00a0
u00a0Vijay and Shubha first met when they starred in the film Chanda.u00a0
u00a0"We had heard about a 12-year-old boy who performs these rituals. We were curious," said Vijay. He said he and Shubha had been touring the districts to promote the film Thakath, in which they appear together.u00a0
u00a0The boy who performed the fire ritual, Sham Shankar, told MiD DAY he had recognised Vijay, but didn't know anything about the girl who had accompanied him. "Politicians come here regularly, but I don't know much about movie stars," he said.u00a0
Reporters in the central Karnataka district of Shimoga had decided to stop the screening of Thakath to protest against Vijay's action. They had complained to the police. The warring parties arrived at a compromise after a while, and the reporters withdrew their complaint.u00a0
Vijay didn't deny his friendship with Shubha. "We understand each other," he said. "If a time comes when we are getting married, I will invite everyone for lunch and announce it."
Shubha, meanwhile, refused to comment on the row and said she was not connected with the incident in any way. "Getting married is one thing, doing publicity for a film is another," she said. "I have nothing more to say."
Rajesh Kamath, reporter for Suvarna TV, said Vijay's driver had behaved nastily with him and had stopped him from shooting the couple. "Vijay threatened us, and hit our cameraman," he told MiD DAY.
