I will be more careful when drafting clauses for my movie contracts

... says Avantika Shetty, who has taken the producer of Raju Kannada Medium to court Earlier this week, RangiTaranga actress Avantika Shetty took to social media about unfair and allegedly unprofessional behaviour meted out to her by the team of the film Raju Kannada Medium. In her post, which she says she put up in the hope that no other actress has a similar experience, she has elaborated the issues she allegedly faced on the set.Avantika, though, is not letting the issue die with just a social media post, and has taken the legal route to address it. The case, which she filed in April, has already come up for hearing a couple of times, with the producer, KA Suresh, allegedly not making court appearances. At the time of going to press, a new hearing was pending on Monday. In a chat with us, Avantika explains just what went wrong. “When the makers of the film approached me for the role, I categorically told them that it would interfere with the schedule of my other film, Rajaratha, but they persisted,” she says.Avantika adds, “My problems began there — everytime I blocked dates for them, they were not utilized well and, often, I was told about shoots at the very last moment, which I now realize was because they were working around the availability of hero Gurunandan, who was working on two other films then.” She adds, “On top of that, despite specific instructions in my contract about costumes, I was expected to wear really short outfits that I was not comfortable with and their logic was that I would be OK with it, considering that I am from Mumbai. Really? They think that girls from Mumbai walk around naked or what?”It didn’t end there. The makers allegedly took offence to the fact that Avantika was not ‘friendly’ enough on the set. “I am a professional, who is there to do my work. What do they mean by being friendly? Should I have kept quiet when a sound crew member placed a mike in my back pocket without telling me and literally brushed my butt, or when a song shoot was conducted at a location that had no vanity van or basic restroom facilities?” asks the actress.The last straw, though, was that payment cheques bounced and the makers alleged that Avantika’s performance was not up to the mark. “If I wasn’t doing well, they should have told me so in the beginning and not after I have shot for 98% of my scenes. After all that has gone wrong with this film, I have filed a case in the Karnataka High Court, in which I have only demanded that the makers ensure that I dub for my role as per my contract, or replace me and not use the footage that I have shot for. I have not brought up money issues in my case,” she says.The experience, she adds, has been one of learning for Avantika. “Going forward, I will be more careful with the clauses in my contract, especially in terms of payments, including service tax and call sheets. I should also ensure that all my official conversations are on record,” she signs off.