| A few weeks ago, Balaji Telefilms sued actress Barkha Bisht (Kavyanjali, Nimmo and Kasautii Zindagii Kay) to restrain her from walking out of their serials.
They says she did not give them adequate notice when she started shooting for Rajashri's Pyaar Ke Do Naam, Ek Raadha Ek Shyaam.
Now, Balaji will be filing a suit claiming damages worth 25 to 30 lakh against the actress, for causing a delay in shooting.
Says Balaji head, Ekta Kapoor, "It's true that we have decided to file a case claiming damages worth lakhs. You can't sign a contract and then walk out because you have a better opportunity.
When Barkha was jobless, she would come to the Balaji office every day and ask for work. We gave her three serials – Kavyanjali, Kasautii Zindagii Kay, and a parallel role to Kya Hoga Nimmo Ka.
When her show, Kitni Mast Hai Zindagi, ended, we relocated her. We suffered major losses with Barkha; she was one of the reasons why Nimmo was postponed from December to March."
Barkha speaks
Says Barkha, "I don't really know what's happening. The case is in court and I wouldn't want to comment on it. I don't know what charges have been levelled against me." Does she know about the damages? "No, I am not aware of it."
Says Balaji Telefilms lawyer, Sandeep Singh Siddhu, "Barkha had a contract with Balaji, which stated that she would shoot for 20 days with us. Then she got the offer from Rajashri, which she did not disclose to us.
When we found out and spoke to her about it, she was very adamant and asked us to replace her. It was then that we exercised our legal rights and the court told us that we were entitled to get damages from her. It's not about troubling her; we want to set a precedent in this industry so that others don't behave like this."
Siddhu adds, "The first case, which we have already filed against Barkha, is a civil case. It is to restrain her from doing any other serials in the time she committed to Balaji. She has to honour her commitments to Balaji.
She signed three contracts with us, which state that till the completion of the serials, and without giving reasonable notice, she can't walk out of them."
Heavy loss
This is the first time that a production house is claiming such a huge amount as damages. Says Siddhu, "People have to get more professional. Balaji has 17 serials on the floors. If all artistes started acting this way, we wouldn't be able to shoot. This will be beneficial for other TV producers too.
We plan to file two suits against Barkha now — one for damages, and the other for starting arbitration proceedings, where arbitrators will listen to both sides.
She started giving us problems with dates and then failed to turn up for the shooting schedule. Tapes got delayed, the cast and crew was kept waiting, there was a loss of money resulting from that and we have sufficient evidence to prove it." Source - Midday | |
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