Malayalam actor and YouTuber Ahaana Krishna, on Tuesday responded to the ongoing controversy surrounding her alleged refusal to participate in the promotional activities of the film Nancy Rani, directed by late Joseph Manu James.
In a statement posted on her Instagram, Ahaana addressed the claims made by Nyna, the wife of the late director, who recently made several accusations against the actor's lack of cooperation with the film’s promotion.
The actor began her nine-page statement by justifying her silence on the issue, stating that although she had issues with both James and Nyna, she did not want to speak ill of the late director.
"The things that I have got to talk about them are unfortunately not very pleasant and as much as I have had my issues with them, I really did not want to publicly talk bad about someone who has passed away,” she added.
James, who was just 31 years old, passed away on February 24, 2023, after reportedly undergoing treatment for hepatitis. His untimely demise came just days before the release of his debut film Nancy Rani. Since his passing, Nyna has taken over the responsibility of overseeing the film's production and release.
In a press meet held on 4th March 2025 in Kochi, Nyna accused Ahaana of not participating in the promotional events for the film, despite being the lead actor. Nyna claimed that the actor had declined all requests, despite being fully compensated for her role in the film.
In her statement, Ahaana revealed that she refused to participate in the promotional activities as her work in the film has been tampered with and "made a mess" by the director without her permission.
"If the film I committed to do just turned out to be bad, I would still come and promote it because it is my responsibility to do so. But in this case, it was beyond all of this," the actor wrote.
She alleged that the director made somebody else dub for her part in the movie, without either trying her or consulting with her.
"The work I have done in the film has been made a mockery out of by doing an unprofessional dubbing with some random person, scenes and shots I never agreed to while hearing the script has been shot without any of our knowledge (the original DOP of the film recently told me that he happened to see the film and there are numerous shots in it which he hasn't even shot)," Ahaana said.
Ahaana also accused James and Nyna of spreading "terrible" lies against her, including that she "was into drugs."
Strongly denying the claims, Ahaana labelled them as part of a smear campaign to tarnish her reputation. “I’ve worked in this industry with complete dedication, and these false accusations about drug use are not just hurtful, they are untrue,” she stated.
In her post, Ahaana asserted that since Nyna had chosen to bring these allegations into the public space, it was necessary for her to share her side of the story.
“The truth will find its way, and you don’t always have to ensure that it's told. But unfortunately, now that she (Nyna) chose a public space to come and present a set of lies and false allegations against me and has tried to make me look like an unprofessional, unethical, and non-empathetic person, my loved ones and most importantly, a lot of the people who worked with me on Nancy Rani and faced similar bad experiences urged me that I should put out my side of the story,” she wrote.
Calling the entire production process of the film "chaotic," Ahaana stated that she and several others on set had faced issues with the director’s unprofessional conduct. Ahaana alleged that James had often arrived on the set drunk, which caused significant problems during the filming process.
She also revealed some of the challenges the film faced during the shoot, which began in February 2020.
"Right from the start, there were certain issues with both the Direction and Production sides because the director was unfortunately highly inexperienced and he wanted to handle both the departments on his own. Even though a lot of us, including myself and some of the other technicians, had requested Manu to appoint an experienced Associate Director and a Production Controller, Manu refused to do so as he wanted to do it all by himself,” she explained.
The controversy surrounding Ahaana’s involvement in the promotion of Nancy Rani comes ahead of the film’s release, now scheduled for 18th April 2025. While Nyna has stated that Ahaana’s absence from promotional events has caused significant difficulties for the film’s marketing efforts, Ahaana’s Instagram post highlights her side of the story and her frustrations with the allegations against her.
The dispute between the two women has once again brought attention to the behind-the-scenes struggles that often accompany film production and promotion, particularly in the wake of a director’s untimely passing.
As the film’s release date approaches, it remains to be seen how this feud, dubbed by many as a PR stunt, will impact the acceptance of Nancy Rani by the audience.