One more actress accuses Shine Tom Chacko of inappropriate behaviour on film set

Kochi: In fresh trouble for actor Shine Tom Chacko, one more female co-star on Thursday accused him of making remarks with "sexual connotations" and behaving inappropriately around her on the sets of their upcoming Malayalam movie 'Soothravakyam'.

Earlier, Chacko's co-star Vincy Aloshious had accused him of misbehaving with her on the film sets under the influence of drugs.

The actress, Aparna John, who is in Australia currently, told a TV channel that everything Aloshious said about Chacko's conduct, including him spitting out some white powder, was "100 per cent correct".

"White powder is all I can say as I cannot state with any authority as to what it was. It could have been glucose," she said.

At the same time, she alleged that Chacko behaved in "a very abnormal and erratic manner" on the sets.

"He displayed a high energy which we cannot match. He moved around constantly, was restless, said things which had no logical connections and if any woman was around, then his remarks were indecent.

"Like Aloshious said, his remarks had strong sexual connotations and were explicit. It was like verbal diarrhoea," she alleged.

John said that his behaviour made her very uncomfortable as she was also a newcomer to the field and she immediately told a member of the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) on the set about the discomfort she felt.

"I immediately got a resolution. The entire crew made the effort to complete my scenes ahead of schedule, so that I could leave," she said.

She further said that if she were pursuing acting as a career like Aloshious, she would do what was possible to ensure the cinema environment was a safe place. "But, I have limitations as I am here (Australia)," she said.

Aloshious had accused Chacko of misbehaving with her and had said that she does not wish to work with those using narcotics on movie sets.

She had lodged a complaint with the Film Chamber, accusing Chacko of inappropriate behaviour while under the influence of drugs on a movie set and also informed the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) about his misconduct on the sets of the unreleased film 'Soothravakyam', though no police complaint has been lodged.

Chacko had reportedly apologised to her for his behaviour.

Just after Aloshious allegations, Chacko was arrested and then released on bail in a drugs case after he allegedly fled from a hotel here when a District Anti-Narcotic Special Action Force (DANSAF) team carried out a raid there.

The actor has been booked under section 238 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and sections 27 (drug consumption) and 29 (abetment and criminal conspiracy) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, in connection with that incident.

The Kerala government, meanwhile, has said that it views the allegations against the actor seriously and its police and Excise departments were effectively intervening in the matter.

The Ernakulam Additional Sessions Court had recently acquitted Chacko in a 2015 drug case, citing procedural lapses by the police during the seizure and arrest.