Ekta Tiwari-Cinetek fight intensifies; actress registers complaint at CINTAA, production house mulls to file defamation suit

In an earlier article of ours we mentioned about the differences that layered the sentiments of actress Ekta Tiwari (Tere Mere Sapne) and owners of the production house Cinetek. For those who are unaware of the development, here’s the back story. Ekta apparently was signed to feature in one of the episodics of Cinetek’s ongoing horror show on Sony Entertainment Television, Bhoot Aaya. During the course of the shooting in Ooty, Ekta had alleged that she and co-actor Raj Sunga were ill-treated by the local line producers. She had also vented out against the production house on her Facebook page and asked other actors and technicians not to work with the above company. While speaking to us for our earlier article, Ekta maintained her tone of anguish and anger and when we spoke to producer Keshav Arora, to learn their side of the story, he negated all allegations calling Ekta’s stint a drama to gain quick fame. Since then, it seems that the acrimonious fire has continued burning between the two parties concerned and the latest development is that Ekta has filed a complaint with CINTAA seeking apology or compensation from Cinetek. “Someone from the production house called me and threatened saying that if I don’t withdraw my complaint, they will ruin my mental peace. They also warned me that if I don’t do as they want, they will file a defamation suit against me and Raj,” alleged the actress. She continued, “We artists deserve respect. Differences between the production house and line guys caused us inconvenience, which was wrong. The latter asked us (line guys) to pay the balance of Rs 10 lakh before we could leave the shooting scene. We were not given food on time.” Here Raj added, “There were no facilities for bathroom and ladies were asked to answer nature’s call in the bushes. I also risked my life by doing a dangerous stunt on my own.” Indeed, strong words!!! However the producers have a different take. Co-producer Akashdeep Sabir stated, “We have never threatened any one especially a girl. In fact, the production panel has not even spoken to her. If she has got into quarrel with someone else, we have no clue about it. Ekta claims that the line producer spoke rudely with her, but then they in turn accused her of being high-handed. It would have better had she directly called us and explained to us what had gone wrong. We would have addressed it directly.” “We think she is doing all this for publicity. Why would we want to put the lives of our artists on the line? The stunt scene which Raj is talking about was just a normal one. As for bathroom, the location (where Ravan movie was shot) is such that you could not bring in vanity vans. Senior artists also have to troop to the guest house which is some distance away. This things happen in outdoors,” maintained Akashdeep. He also rubbished claims that any monetary arrears were left. Furthermore, when asked about the defamation suit, Akashdeep averred, “Yes, we are contemplating for she has left us with no choice. We have also written in our reply to CINTAA that Ekta had made a big mistake by talking falsehoods about us on social media. Either she apologizes or we will be forced to take legal action. I wish to add that our action is just defensive, had we wanted we could have also maligned her name on social media as well, which we did not.” In closing Ekta added, “I am only asking for justice. I wish to settle this in a nice way if possible. But then if they are adamant and still want to move to court, they are free do so.” We also buzzed a CINTAA official who shared on grounds of anonymity that the issue is in the dispute committee of the organisation and one is not allowed to talk to the media till the matter gets settled. We will keep an eye on further developments!!!