Shruti, PVP war is over
Hyderabad-based production firm withdraws cheating case against actress. Both sides claim victory
The Hyderabad District court has dismissed a criminal case against actress Shruti Haasan filed by Hyderabad-based production house Picture House Media Ltd.
The move marks the end of a running feud between Haasan and Telugu film producer Potluri Vara Prasad. It also marks the end of the star’s campaign to get the case filed against her — over an alleged ill-timed pullout of a project — thrown out.
Insiders from both camps have claimed victories although many believe the matter could move towards a “settlement”.
“The actress approached the Movie Artistes’ Association first, but they were busy with elections and couldn’t take up the issue immediately. She then approached the South Indian Film Artiste Association and South Indian Producers’ Council to settle the issue,” says a source. Sarath Kumar, the president of SIFAA, then urged the makers to withdraw the case.
On Monday, the court in Hyderabad dismissed the case.
The Hyderabad production firm maintains the court only dismissed the case following a memo from them, which expressed a wish to end the matter.
“Yes, we withdrew the case against the actress out of respect for Sarath Kumar, a senior actor. We have had talks with Sarath Kumar and the producer council. Tuesday is the final meet and the actress and her manager will attend,” said Rajiv, a senior executive attached to PVP’s media house.
The source added that there could be compensation coming in from the star’s camp. “The compensation may be in cash or the actress might do a film with the production house later,” the source said.
But an official statement from Shruti Haasan has made no mention of compensation and maintains that Monday’s development has been a victory for the actress.
“Shruti is very thankful for the intervention of SIAA on the matter. Thanks to the support of the industry bodies, she has also decided to withdraw the defamation claim against the producers for misrepresentation and revealing misleading facts to the media,” the statement read.
Shruti herself has been unavailable for comment.
We withdrew the case out of respect for Sarath
Kumar, a senior actor