Ishara Nair aka Ishaara Nair of "Sathuranga Vettai" fame has sparked a controversy by accusing the director of her forthcoming movie of harassment. The actress has claimed that Kevin Joseph behaved in an inappropriate manner when the flick, "Engada Irundheenga Ivvalavu Naala," was being shot.
Speaking to the Times of India, Ishara Nair has opened up on the difficulties she faced on the sets of the film. "During the shoot, the director used to explain the scene to me in a vulgar way in front of everyone. I come in this film as myself, as Sathuranka Vettai Ishaara. In that case, imagine how such a scene will affect my reputation. I cannot even explain how vulgar the scene was. He was trying to touch me while talking to me," the daily quoted the actress as saying.
Ishara Nair is also not happy with the way Kevin Joseph communicated with her. "He used to push me to the wall and say, 'Pannu dee pannu dee'. That was not professional. I was feeling harassed and I could not do the movie," she adds.
Morever, nobody on the sets cared when the director's car hit her. Ishara Nair is not sure whether it was an accident or Kevin Joseph intentionally did that. Hence, she wondered how she could work in such unsafe conditions.
It must be noted that Ishara Nair has not filed a case at the Nadigar Sangam as she fears the issue will only spoil her name
The director's version
The director has rubbished the harassment allegations and claimed that the film does not have any vulgar scene. "The scene involves her issuing a sensual invitation to the film's hero over phone. There was no other actor involved, and it was only a lead to a song," he told the daily.
Reacting to Ishara Nair's comment on addressing her in a disrespectful manner, Kevin Joseph admitted that he used to call her "vaa dee" and "po dee" and added that it was because he was brought up in Nagercoil (a town in Tamil Nadu), where people talk to each other in such way.
"Even her getting hit by the car was an accident. It was a stunt scene and the brake did not work," he adds. However, the director is willing to apologise if his unintended actions and communication skills have hurt her even though he has not harassed her.
Kevin Joseph concluded by saying that Ishara Nair can bring her people to the sets if she feels unsafe working in the film. He only requested her to complete the project.
On the other hand, the production house claimed that Ishara Nair had given 20 days call sheet but attended only two days of shooting. In the two days that she worked, the actress cooperated to all the scenes. However, since then, she did not turn up for the shoot, citing various reasons.
She was paid Rs. 75,000 as advance after being signed for Rs. 4 lakh remuneration.
