Lal and son Jean Paul LalActor-director Lal on Tuesday denied allegations raised by an actress against his son Jean Paul Lal and new-gen actor Sreenath Bhasi from the sets of the movie Honey Bee 2.
Talking to the media, Lal said, “When Jean was finalizing the cast of Honey Bee 2, he was on a hunt for a modern female face. He chanced upon the photograph of this particular actress and asked her to come and meet him. She was working as an anchor in a channel. She came to our home and we all had a discussion together.’’
“Just as we were to begin shooting for the movie, we contacted her and asked her to get a temporary tattoo. The day of her schedule, Sreenivasan was not well for shoot and we had to make changes in the schedule. By that time itself, she got irritated. She had just one scene and we thought of pushing it to the very next day.’’
“The next day she had a shot with Sreenath Bhasi. During that time, there was a trouble with the light and setting and she started saying that she wasn’t comfortable at all. Jean too, was getting angry as he wasn’t really satisfied with the actress’ performance. Jean, in turn, told her if she was not fine she could leave. Later, the assistant director too asked that she must be dropped from the project. And thus, we changed the script and edited all the portions involving her.’’
Also read: Case filed against Jean Paul Lal, Sreenath Bhasi for lewd remarks at actress
“Last month, we were served a notice following a police complaint filed by her. We were considering giving her Rs 50,000 instead of the promised remuneration of Rs 25,000. But then she stepped up her demands and asked for a public apology on the television and Rs 10 lakh as compensation. At that juncture, I was the one who said there was no need for such settlements.’’
“The movie was released in march and if the actress had a genuine complaint why did she delay it till now? In the industry, there are many cases of women coming under attack and I personally have come out against it. But this is not even a genuine case,” said Lal.
