Kochi: The case against actor Sreenath Bhasi, wherein he allegedly hurled abuses at a female anchor during an interview, was withdrawn by the complainant on Friday.
Bhasi was taken into custody by Maradu police on September 26.
The complainant signed a petition seeking the withdrawal of the case against the actor. The anchor posted her reason for taking back the case through a detailed social media post.
"Many people asked me wasn't the issue being blown out of proportion. Certainly not. I believe this incident became discussed widely because I decided to go ahead with the case. Yes, the entire episode could have ended with a 'sorry'. And I was ready to forgive as well. But not only was I denied an apology, but the reaction from the actor also perpetuated the idea that 'abuse is normal'. That is when I decided to confront the issue legally," said the complainant in her post.
She further said the actor rendered an apology after realising his mistake and expressed her gratitude to her colleagues, family, media and the police officials who guided her in the right direction and gave her their unconditional support.
The complainant, in an interview given to a TV channel on the day of Bhasi's arrest, had revealed that she decided to proceed with the case after giving the actor enough time to apologise. According to the anchor, the crew of the movie being promoted had initially asked her to not file a case and promised her they would make the artist apologise. However, that was not to be.
The Kerala Film Producers Association had decided not to cooperate with actor Sreenath Bhasi on new projects.
According to the association, the actor will only be allowed to complete filming of those movies he has signed to date.
The incident
During the promotion interview of Bhasi's latest release 'Chattambi', the anchor of the online entertainment portal asked the actor to rate his co-actors on the basis of their rowdiness.
Though Bhasi attempted to deflect these questions at first, the interviewer's alleged insistence did not sit well with the actor, who could be seen asking on camera if he could leave.
Soon after that, Bhasi was seen telling the anchor to refrain from asking him any more "silly" questions. He then proceeded to ask the crew to stop filming.
According to the entertainment crew's version of the incident, Bhasi verbally abused the crew once the camera was turned off.
In a video posted on the channel, the crew alleged that Bhasi used swear words that were deeply insulting to women. Bhasi was interviewed by two female anchors.
"Because we are an online channel, we deviate from the usual hard news and instead focus on funny questions to spread the word about the movie. In fact, when movie promotion teams approach us, they do prefer these kinds of funny questions. Our videos are thus livelier than other promotional videos," a crew member of the YouTube channel said.
"However, it is true that Bhasi did not find these questions befitting his status. But given how he has made a name for himself within a short span, he must be well aware that it is goodwill and entertainment value that fuels an upcoming actor's success. His behaviour is not befitting of a lead actor, especially one who's come to promote his movie," the crew member added.
