Manya alleges humiliation from producer

Actress Manya who has worked in all the four South Indian films has claims that "Ee Preethi Onthara' producer Mohan Das Pai had forced her to wear Bikini swimming dresses for a sequence and had even tried to threaten her after she refused it.

Manya entered the Kannada film industry after she had acted in several Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil films. The actress who debuted in Kannada with "Varsha' in which she was paired with Dr. Vishnuvardhan says that she had not experienced anything like what happened during the shooting of "Ee Preethi Onthara' in her entire career spanning more than seven years.

"I have accepted this film after hearing the story which was completely ladies oriented. The entire shooting was over except for a few song sequences. I had to shoot a song with the hero, but when I went to the shooting place I found another actor doing a character role in his place. The producer explained to me that this was a dream sequence. I was little unconvinced, but yet I agreed to do the dance sequence. Then I was told to wear a Bikini which I refused straight away since my character in the film is totally traditional and the story would not permit me to wear a sexy dress. But the producer was insistent. I did not wear despite receiving threats from the producer. When I came back to Bangalore after the outdoor shoot, I was surprised that the producer did not arrange for my return journey to Hyderabad and he had not even settled my hotel bills. I had to organize some funds from my relatives in Bangalore to leave for Hyderabad as I had to attend a shooting immediately" says Manya. She also said that she allotted fifteen additional days of call sheet to the producer who has not reimbursed her remuneration fully.

But "Ee Preethi Onthara'' producer Mohan Das Pai and his wife feel that actress Manya has told a bundle of lies to malign their production company at the behest of some vested interests. Mr. Pai who is a film distributor from Bangalore is a first time producer and said that Manya's unprofessional behavior has cost him lot of money. He also produced evidences of Airline and Hotel bills and showed even receipts of remuneration paid to Manya at the media. Pai said that he had not at any time asked her to wear swimming costumes. "This is a bundle of lies and I don't know why she is spreading such blatant lies, even when she has been given a decent role in my film" declared Pai. Director Tenemane Subramanyam, Costume designers Gandasi Nagaraj and the film's cameraman Sathya were present in the press conference.