#MeToo: Sruthi Hariharan Accuses Nibunan Co-Star Arjun Sarja of Sexual Misconduct

Popular Kannada actress Sruthi Hariharan has accused Nibunan co-actor Arjun Sarja of misbehaving with her. Sharing her ordeal in a long Facebook post, Sruthi said, “The first few days seemed normal, I played his wife in the film and that day we were to do a romantic scene where we had to hug each other after a brief dialogue. During the rehearsal, we delivered our lines and Mr. Arjun hugs me. With no forewarning or permission, he runs his hands intimately up and down my back. He pulls me closer with my body taut against his and asks the director if we could use this idea of foreplay in the scene. I was aghast,” she wrote.

"I am all for depicting realism in cinema, but this felt absolutely wrong. His intent seemed anything but professional. I hated that he did it and angry that I didn't know what to say then," she continued. She also explained how in the past no other actor she has worked with suggested such improvisation. Check out her post here-

This was not the only incident. She further alleged saying, “During the course of production, every smutty innuendo he made, created an unpalatable work environment for me. His salacious invitations to meet him after work appalled me.” Sruthi shared the incident with her make-up team later. Sruthi wrote, "This happened in front of 50 people. I wanted nothing but to stay away from him, rather than stay and be tolerant of his lewd and unprofessional behaviour." Kannada Actress Sruthi Hariharan Shares Her Casting Couch Experience in South Film Industry.

She also revealed why she decided to talk about it now. "Sarja needs to make sure how he doesn't cross the thin line between two actors and use his position of power to cause another person discomfort." Nibunan released in 2017 and also starred Ganesh Venkatraman and Varalaxmi.

Earlier this year, Sruthi made it to the headlines for sharing chilling details of her experience of casting couch in the South film industry. "One of the leading producers in Tamil Cinema bought the rights to my Kannada film and offered me the same role in the Tamil remake. He said, and I’m quoting him verbatim, “we are five producers and we will exchange you however we want," she said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 20, 2018 04:23 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).