Bhubaneswar: A day after leveling casting couch allegations against three prominent names of the Odia entertainment industry, actress Sharmistha today filed a police complaint against six persons, including the three she had named yesterday, at the Mahila police station in Bhubaneswar.
Apart from event manager Bapi Jena, producer Subrat Nayak and director Tapas Saragharia, the three persons she had accused of making sexual advances on her earlier, Sharmistha named another three - producer Bini samal and directors Nihar Samal, Chandi Parija - in her complaint today alleging they asked her for sexual favours to get roles in serials and films.
Talking to OTV, Sharmistha said, “On different occasions, the persons I have named misbehaved with me and asked me to compromise. They even threatened not to give me work if I did not oblige. When I tried to lodge a police complaint, they threatened to stop giving me work. Later I did not work with them.”
When asked why she did not approach the police earlier, Sharmistha said, “I had not filed complaint earlier out of fear about my career and losing my reputation. I decided to act when things crossed all limits.”
“Bapi Jena has been harassing me for past three years through Facebook chats,” she added.
She was doing ‘Badhu’ and 'Tapasya' serials on Sarthak TV and Colors Odia, respectively.
Rejecting the allegations outright, Chandi Parija, director, said, “The charges are baseless. Why did she (Sharmistha) not approach the Mahila police station at the time I misbehaved with her? Why is she making allegations now?”
Producer Bini Samal had a different take on Sharmistha's move. “She is taking the help of a false case as she does not intend to return the money she had taken from us.”
Yesterday, Sharmisatha had alleged she was asked to 'compromise', if she wanted to get roles in TV serials, by event manager Bapi Jena and directors Subrat Nayak and Tapas Sargharia.