Film chamber decides not to ban Darshan for now

BENGALURU: Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) office bearers, including its president, M N Suresh and Sa Ra Govindu, met Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar at the KPCC office on Thursday evening. The visit gained significance in the wake of the arrest of ‘Challenging Star’ Darshan in a murder case.

After the meeting, KFCC president M N Suresh said, “The cases of actors including Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan are different. The police are now investigating the case involving Darsha. The film chamber has not taken any decision yet. Producers have invested in films, so we will not come to any decision until the investigation is completed. We are concerned about the victim’s family and we are supposed to visit that day itself. The grieving family should get support and we are thinking about it. If Darshan has done something wrong, action should be taken. We will not defend him. It will take another six months or a year for this case to take some finality. We stand with the victims”. We are working on taking action.

Earlier on Thursday night, he said, “This is a very sensitive issue. We had supported the actor in 2011, but now it is a different issue and we can’t intervene. We will take a decision based on the court’s ruling”.

“What will be the situation of the producers of Darshan’s movies if he goes to jail? A movie is halfway done. Darshan can’t wriggle out of the incident for at least five or six months and other movies have also announced. Some of have given advance, so banning him is not so easy. At the same time, we won’t safeguard him, there is no confusion about that”, Suresh said.

Sa Ra Govindu of the Film Chamber of Commerce said, “We should stand by the victim’s family, we are thinking about it. Those who made mistakes should get punished. If Darshan has done something wrong, then action should be taken. We are not defending him”.

A meeting was held at the KFCC office on Thursday to discuss the issue of banning Darshan from the film industry.