BENGALURU: Kannada actor Chetan on Monday defended himself saying that he got involved in Sruthi Hariharan’s case just because he supported the #MeToo campaign and had been working since the last year-and-a-half to build the organisation — Film Industry for Rights & Equality (FIRE).
FIRE on Sunday announced the formation of its internal complaints committee, which made Sandalwood the first film industry in the country to have such a panel to deal with sexual harassment.
About the Rs 10 lakh advance for Prema Baraha not returned to Sarja, Chetan said, “I was supposed to work with Arjun Sarja a few years ago for which I had to let go of a few projects, including a project with Mynaa director, Nagashekar. He (Sarja) has always been professional with me. He gave me an advance of Rs 9 lakhs with Rs 1 lakh as TDS cut. We did a photoshoot, and various kinds of rehearsals. It was a six months process.”
He said he did have offers coming in from other languages, but sacrificed his other films for the project with Arjun Sarja. He added that it was only because of creative differences with Sarja that he made an exit.
“He has never asked me directly to give me the money back. I worked for 6 months and had given him the dates. In case he doesn’t want to work with me on another project, I am ready to give him the money back,” he further stated.