A new twist in actress Shruthi's divorce saga

Bangalore, May 8 (IANS) South Indian film actress and politician Shruthi Friday said she will be marrying journalist turned film director Chandrachud alias Chakri after the court accepts her plea for divorce from director S. Mahendar whom she married early 1998.

Talking to IANS from the temple town of Tirupati, Shruthi said she had decided to marry Chandrachud only Thursday after seeking the blessings of Lord Venkateshwara in Tirumala. She had filed the papers for divorce from Mahendar in the family court four days ago

"I cannot act against my conscience. Since a few days, I have been closer to Chandrachud and both of us decided to marry. I know Chandrachud is already married, but he is also facing some marital discontent in his household. We would be marrying each other only after our plea for divorce is accepted," Shruthi said.

Chandrachud, who is presently directing a Kannada film "Janma", also told IANS that he is marrying the actress after she gets her divorce. He said that since the decision to marry was mutual, it should not warrant any criticism from any end.

"There is no point in continuing a relationship which has been continuously strained. I tried to save my marriage many times and resurrect the strained relationship. But unfortunately it did not work. I now think I prolonged a relationship which could not be sustained. I am happy to come out of the relationship with Mahendar and enter into a new relationship with Chandrachud," said Shruthi, who also has a child with Mahendar.

Shruthi's decision has not been taken kindly by some of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders who have been privately criticising her. She is now the chairperson of the Karnataka Women and Child welfare Board and had campaigned extensively for the party in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Mysore Lok Sabha constituencies in the recently-held parliamentary elections.

However, some BJP leaders say she has saved the party from a big embarrassment as she had announced her decision to divorce her husband Mahendar and marry Chandrachud four days after the conclusion of the two-phase polling in Karnataka.

Since the issue surfaced, Mahendar has remained elusive and his whereabouts are not known. Even his close confidants in the film industry and many friends in his native town of Kollegal say that the director has become inaccessible. He has also switched off his mobile phone.