#Me Too: Now Shruthi Hariharan accuses Arjun Sarja

Popular actress Shruthi Hariharan of Solo fame is the latest to join the Me Too bandwagon. The Solo actress has accused Action King Arjun Sarja of sexual harassment during the shoot of the Kannada film Vismaya (Nibunan in Tamil).
The actress alleged that the all was well during the initial days of the shoot but during a rehearsal for a romantic scene, Arjun hugged her and ran his hands over her body. She shared the incident on her social media page, “ Growing up, I have been sexually harassed multiple number of times. I am pretty sure, most women have. An obscene remark or unwanted sexual advances, in a social or professional setting, have made many of us uncomfortable, uneasy and terrified.
When I first started working on films, I was looking forward to great learning experiences and challenges, all in a professional and conducive environment. But today I write this with immense ignominy towards the industry I belong to! This industry has helped me achieve my dreams, explore my capabilities and inspired me to be versatile. It breaks my heart to share that I have felt unsafe, disturbed and disappointed in far too many situations.
The most common attempt at harassment in the film industry is the Casting Couch which would be presented as a prerequisite for work opportunities. Non-compliance of the couch would result in losing that opportunity. Sometimes they simply say, "compromise, or, someone else will".... the stories get darker.
Honestly, I have been lucky as I have managed to escape physically and mentally scarring situations. However, in late 2016, there was one incident that left me startled and took a while for me to recover.
I was shooting for a bilingual film which starred Arjun Sarja. A man whose movies I have grown up watching. I was excited about the opportunity. 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. 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.
Scenes are rehearsed before we roll camera and begin shooting. It helps understand staging, body language, actor dynamics etc. That's the ideal process. You talk, enact, and finally find the balance in a given scene. As an actor, I am entitled to know/be consulted with, about the details of a scene especially when it involves something intimate. I'd also like to share with you that every actor I worked with before and after him, have never resorted to this kind of "improv". The director sensed my discomfort too. I made sure I let the direction department know that I was not interested to be a part of rehearsals and will come directly for takes. I also shared the incident with my makeup team right after.The incident happened in front of at least 50 people on a shooting set- it happened at my workplace. I wanted nothing but to stay away from him rather than be tolerant and put up with his lewd and complete unprofessional behavior.
I didn't want to go back, but as a professional, I had to finish what I had signed for. I continued shooting. 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.
Looking back I remember attempting to normalise his behaviour and ignore his comments- lest there be issues in the production of the film in entirety. I maintained a cordial distance. All the while knowing he was wrong and wondering why he never stopped.
I choose to come out now, 'cos henceforth I think Mr. Arjun Sarja needs to make sure he doesn't cross the thin line between two actors and use his position of power to cause another person discomfort or hurt.
I choose to do this publicly - cos this movement is more than you and me and our individual experiences. It is a collective voice to question an existing system of power play and to call a spade for what it is. The point is to be part of a larger battle against years of female oppression and abuse. It is a movement to make sure no man ever takes a woman's personal space for granted, whoever she is to him."
The film's director Arun Vaidhyanathan released an official statement:
Arjun sir and Sruthi Hariharan, both are my good friends and I know their families too very well.
Regarding Arjun sir, he is a perfect gentleman on sets who is a professional when it comes to the craft of acting. The same applies to Sruthi too. I just received the statement where Sruthi has called out Arjun sir in the #Metoo movement. Am shocked to know of the same and regarding the particular scene mentioned, it was an intimate romantic scene. We did rehearse the same before the shot and discussed ideas. I edited out certain improvs offered, finalized the staging and moved on to shooting the scene. Improv is a common process in filmmaking and that's how movies happen. Sometimes , a magic happens during those kind of improvs too, which you can't deny. The shoot happened almost two years back and I don't remember the minute details of the said incident.
One more thing, I want to bring it out here. The said intimate scene was written much more intimate than what was shot finally and Arjun Sir requested me to tone it down during the scripting stage itself. He said ' I have teen daughters now and can't perform such scenes anymore'. I also understood the same and rewrote it entirely different. The above said statements regarding the shoot and the rewrite was a honest portrayal of what really happened.
What transpired between two adults outside my sets or personally between them over calls or chats, unless or otherwise brought to my attention as a complaint, I can't comment on the same and it's not right too.
Both Arjun sir and Sruthi are great friends to me personally. Its disheartening to write the entire statement since we had so much fun while making our film and we all worked as a team with one common mission of making a good film.
Regarding #MeToo movement, we wish this brings a safe environment to all the women across all industries.
Here's Arjun's statement on the issue:
I never expected this. I have acted with 60-70 heroines in 150 movies, but no one had pointed fingers at me. Shruti Hariharan was very impressed of the movie and had actually asked me to work with her more in movies. I am a pucca professional actor. When I was told the movie script, there were more intimate scenes and I had told director to choose someone else as I didn’t want to do so much intimate scenes. My biggest worry is to give so much explanation to family and friends. I am planning to sue Shruti Hariharan over allegations. I have neither invited her to dinner nor to any resort. I don’t know if there is someone behind these allegations.