Son of ace director Lal and director himself, Jean Paul Lal has been booked by the Panangad police for cheating and making lewd comments to an actress.
According to reports by Manorama Online, Jean Paul Lal (also known as Lal Jr) and actor Sreenath Bhasi has been booked for cheating and making sexually explicit comments.
According to news reports, during the shooting of Lal Jr's 'Honey Bee 2', the director allegedly did not pay the actress for her work.
The actress claims that when asked about the payment, at a hotel in Panangad, the director made sexually explicit comments on her. Her statement was recorded by the Info Park Circle Inspector.
Kochi's Panangad Police have booked Anoop and Anirudh - two film technicians along with Sreenadh Bhasi and Lal Jr.
According to Manorama News report, Jean Paul's father and film director, Lal called the actress' action opportunistic and it was first of all her unprofessional behaviour which made the production not pay her.
Lal says that the actress shot for two days and for just one scene and the production had promised her Rs 50,000 but she left on the second day as she was irritated due to shoot delays. She had to wait till evening for her scene and when called for she told that she was not comfortable and wanted to go.
"Jean said that if she is not comfortable, she can go. An assistant director informed her that she could leave if she was not ready to wait. Her portions which were left out were done using a body double.
When it came to remuneration, I told that there is no need to pay anything. One month ago I think, we received a legal notice and we had replied to it. CI Radhamani from Kakkanad Police station called over the case and we showed the footage of the film and the portions of the script where her character was cut off because she had left. The police officers also wondered the reason behind lodging a case like this.
Now, the actress is asking for ten lakhs and also demanded that Jean Paul and Anoop should apologise on Television."
Incidentally, a prominent Malayalam actress was abducted and assaulted during the production of the same film. Actor Dileep was arrested by the Kerala Police for allegedly plotting the whole crime.
Jean Paul Lal is the director of films like 'Honey Bee', 'Hi! I'm Tony' and 'Honey Bee 2'.