High drama was witnessed at a press conference in the City on Saturday, convened by director Rishi to give details of the Kannada film ‘Kotlallappo Kai’.
Actress Nayana Krishna, who has played a role in the flick, and her family members hit the director with footwear, alleging he had cheated her of Rs eight lakh.
The Upparpet police have registered a case against the actress and seven others.
They arrested Nayana Krishna and Anitha, an activist of a women’s organisation, and later released them on bail.
As soon as he was attacked, Rishi fled to a safer place and he was helped by others present at the press meet.
The actress claimed that Rishi had taken Rs eight lakh from her, promising he would return it at the earliest.
However, he delayed the payment by cooking up stories, she charged. Nayana claimed that Rishi had promised her on Friday that he would pay the money on Saturday, but did not. Reacting to the incident, Rishi told Deccan Herald: “A few youngsters who did not get opportunities in films formed a team to produce a film. Nayana was one of them.
We all contributed money for the film. She had invested Rs eight lakh. However, exclusive rights of the movie are in my name.”
“She started demanding her money a few weeks ago. Nayana demanded the rights of the film for Mumbai-Karnataka, Mangalore, Bellary and Gulbarga areas, if I can’t repay the money to her. The areas cost around Rs one crore and hence, I refused to give the rights. I told her I will return the money after the release of the film,” he said.
Nayana abused him in vulgar language in the open, but he did not react. The incident was a deliberate attempt to create hurdles for the release of the movie, Rishi claimed.
He was whisked away in a vehicle after the incident. The actress could not be contacted.
