'Touched my neck and stroked hair'; Sreelekha Mitra raises strong allegation against director Ranjith

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Bengali actress Sreelekha Mitra on Friday raised strong allegations against veteran Malayalam director Ranjith. The Bengali actress alleged that the current chairman of Kerala State Chalachitra Academy misbehaved with her during a film shoot back in 2009. Meanwhile, Ranjith responded to the issue and denied any wrongdoing.

“I had done a role in Shyamaparasad’s ‘Akale’. After seeing this performance Ranjith called me to ‘Paleri Manikyam’. I attended an audition and was called for a team party organized by the producer. At the party, Ranjith asked me to visit his room in the hotel. I thought it was for discussing the movie but he had ulterior motives.

He first touched my bangles and then his hands caressed my neck and shoulder. It was so uncomfortable that I stormed out of the room. I had to stay in the hotel room in total fear for the entire night. Later, I got to know that I was thrown out of the movie. Since then, I have never received work from a Malayalam movie. I immediately revealed the horrible happenings to documentary film director Joshy Joseph.

Sreelekha demanded that those who faced violence should come forward with complaints and reveal the names of the culprits.

However, Ranjith denied the allegation but accepted that Sreelekha indeed appeared for the audition, but was not considered fit for the role.