Mandana Karimi accuses ‘Koka Kola’ producer Mahendra Dhariwal of harassment; producer reacts to her allegations

Actress Mandana Karimi has accused Mahendra Dhariwal, producer of her upcoming film ‘Koka Kola’, of harassing her at the workplace. Whereas presenting his side of the incident, the producer has accused the actress of being unprofessional and that there are many people on the sets who would vouch for his claims.

In an interview with Bombay Times, both Mandana and Mahendra shared their views on the alleged harassment on the sets of ‘Koka Kola’ which took place before Diwali.

Bombay Times reported that the incident of Mahendra’s alleged misbehaviour with Mandana happened on ‘Koka Kola’s set a day before Diwali. Speaking about the incident, Mandana told Bombay Times, “What happened on November 13 has shaken me up. It was the last day of my shoot and I wanted to wrap up and get going. I had another meeting lined up. On the last two days of the shoot, I had come in early and clocked in the hours, though the shoot wasn’t all about me. A little before wrap-up, the producer asked me for an hour more on the set, which I told him I can’t do as I have a meeting lined up. He said okay, and I went back on set to finish my last few takes. We were shooting for a song. But the moment I left the set and went to my vanity van to change, he forcefully came inside and started shouting, ‘You can’t leave. I asked you to do an extra hour and you have to listen because I am the producer and I have paid you.’ This set had no director or assistants. There was a choreographer, a stylist and the producer was calling the shots, literally. It’s the strangest job I have done in my nine years in India. He started creating a scene on the set along with his son and calling me names. It’s unsettling how they have behaved with me as an artiste and as a woman.”

The actress then went on to say that on November 13, after her last take she went inside her vanity van and asked her spot boy to not let anyone inside as she was changing. She thought the door was locked but it wasn’t as the producer barged in. She apparently even requested him to wait outside but he refused and started screaming.

 

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Whereas the producer Mahendra presenting his side of the story told the daily, “On the last day, the shift was from 9 am to 9 pm. We had a set created and a song was being shot. At 7 pm, she said she has to leave. I requested her that we have to complete this today and I asked if she could wait for an hour more. She said okay and went back on set. At 8 pm, she got a call and she went into her vanity van. I ran after her to stop her from leaving because we still had a few shots left. I told her I would run into a loss as I will have to shoot the next day again. She wasn’t willing to stay back, and that is when I gave her an earful because she started packing up.”

He further added, “Mandana started making videos of me screaming; I told her I am not scared. I entered the vanity van in about 10-15 seconds after she entered, and I knocked before entering. She asked me to step in. Public khadi thi bahar, and I was standing on the steps of the van. I requested for an additional 15 minutes, but I lost my cool when she started acting up. Later, she came back on the shooting floor and started making my videos. There were hundreds of people on the sets who can vouch for what I am saying. Prince, director-choreographer Ahmed Khan’s associate, who was choreographing, will tell you. In one-and-a-half years, for a contract of Rs 7 lakhs, she has taken Rs 17 lakhs, cash transactions included. I am okay with spending the money, but she has behaved unprofessionally with us.”

Now that Mandana has vowed to never return on the sets of ‘Koka Kola’ we wonder if she will take legal action against the makers of the film. The film Koka Kola also stars Sunny Leone.

Also Read: Mandana Karimi’s TRAGIC Tales Of Her Parents Being Stuck In Iran During Coronavirus Lockdown

Pooja Sharma

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