Banned over affair with hero,actress gets a little support from film industry

The ban on Nikita,a mainstream actress from Maharashtra with successful Telugu,Tamil and Malayalam commercial films under her belt,is being widely seen as a effort to stem the damage caused to the reputation of Darshan,34,the hero of the majority of her successful Kannada films,following his arrest for a violent attack on his wife of seven years,Vijayalaksmi,on September 9. With a slew of big budget films riding on Darshan’s back the film producers association — despite Nikita’s cries of innocence — has through an act of pop justice banished for three years what they saw as the main obstacle to the continued presence on film sets of the industry’s most bankable hero,following his attack on his wife.

“This is madness. Pure male chauvinism. This is not a film,this is real life where you live by real norms. Why should she be punished if he is guilty? This is absurd. Everyone has affairs. Is everybody going to be held responsible? This has to be condemned,” says award winning writer,theater and film personality Girish Karnad. “The totally irresponsible action of the film producers association reveals the anti-women basis of the thinking of all these men who become producers,” he says.

In a reprisal of Darshan’s portrayal of street violence as a machete wielding thug in several films his large fan following descended onto the streets — following his arrest by the police — demanding his release. They even stoned two buses.

The episode involving Darshan is not a reflection of the commercial interests pervading the film industry but that of society in general,says Karnad. “A film sells what it shows. This is not a commercial film. Why should the producers get involved?” he asks.

According to one of Kannada cinema’s best creators of women characters,national award winning film-maker Girish Kasarvalli,the ban on Nikita has been determined by the business interests of producers. “It is not right to ban her. There is a police case over the attack on his wife that should be allowed to be finished first. They (producers) have more of their own business interests at heart,” he said.

Kannada actresses and national award winner Tara said the Kannada film artistes association has taken the ban on Nikita seriously. “We are waiting for our president (former MP Ambareesh) to return from a foreign trip. We want no injustice to be done to anyone. We are not supporting anybody’s actions but we want everything to end happily. When you call cinema an industry,commercial interests dictate,” she says,admitting that the episode is a reflection of male bias not just in the Kannada cinema world but in society as well. “In Kannada cinema women play either extremely emotional roles or super woman roles. There are few roles portraying women as women,as strong individuals. All commercial cinema in India is similarly biased and we may be luckier here,” she says.

Darshan’s bail plea was on Monday reserved for orders. The actor’s wife who had earlier accused her husband of assaulting her and threatening her with a revolver,appeared in court and retracted her statement saying that she hurt herself during a fall.