'It's just another publicity gimmick'

Daisy Bopanna is livid. She’s been receiving several calls from the media regarding recent reports in which Daisy has been ‘accused’ of unprofessional behaviour by the director of her yet-to-release Tamil film, Chakravyuham.

The various allegations by director Udhayabhanu Mageswaran against Daisy include ‘not cooperating in the completion of the film, thus delaying its release, which was mean to coincide with Diwali; not coming for shooting; and displaying high-handed behaviour and five-star treatment.’

But BT received a call from Daisy who had another story to tell. According to the actress, “All this talk of being unprofessional and uncooperative is utter nonsense. What actually happened is quite different from what Mageswaran has been portraying to the media. In fact, they’re doing it because both Mageswaran and the hero Nataraj, who’s originally a cinematographer, are not popular figures. So they’re indulging in false talk to get whatever hype they can.”

So what actually happened behind the scenes? “As is the norm, I had signed an agreement that mentioned that I’d receive my remuneration before the shoot. I had already received 75 per cent of the payment, since we had finished wrapping up major portions of the film. And the remaining 25 per cent was supposed to be paid to me during the last schedule. The day before we finished the film, I asked the director for my final payment, which he refused to give, citing vague reasons: first he told me he’d have to ask the producer, then he said the cashier wasn’t around, after which he said they’d pay me after a month,” says an upset Daisy.

The actress then decided not to shoot on the last day of the schedule since she hadn’t received the promised amount and returned to Bangalore. “And the next thing I know is that the Tamil and English papers are full of reports alleging that I’m an unprofessional actress! The director has even had the gumption to say that I hadn’t shot for a month — in reality it was because the hero Natarajan was also the cinematographer for Jab We Met, so he had taken a month off from shooting. I’m also aware of a lot of other things that they plan to tell the media, but they’re totally untrue,” says Daisy.

So does she plan to take action against the director? “Unfortunately I can’t because I’m not a member of their artistes association. And I’m really not worried about the so-called complaint issued in the Tamil Film Producers Council as it wasn’t even registered because the accusations were flimsy. I’ve even decided to forgo the remaining Rs 1.5 lakh,” she says.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com