In a dramatic turn of events, actress Digangana Suryavanshi has taken legal action against filmmaker Manish Harishankar, sending him a defamation notice and filing a police complaint. This move comes after Manish accused Digangana of extortion and criminal breach of trust, alleging that she falsely promised to secure Akshay Kumar as a presenter for his web show “Showstopper.”
Digangana has vehemently denied these allegations, calling them a fabrication of Manish’s imagination. She claims that she had indeed secured Akshay Kumar’s approval under a business deal, which Manish failed to honor. “Manish’s narrative is his twisted imagination, it’s all untrue. A cheap publicity stunt of simply dragging names, clearly he’s trying to find a bakra so he can bail out from not being able to sell the show even after more than two years. I don’t want to waste any more time explaining further, I’ve already wasted too much time trying to help him,” Digangana stated.
Her lawyer, Rajendra Mishra, also issued a strong statement, asserting that all allegations against Digangana are baseless and a result of Manish’s criminal intentions to cover up his own failures. “Our client has known Manish for 7 years and is an actress on his series ‘Showstopper’. When Manish was in a situation where he clearly couldn’t help himself, he asked for help from our client and proposed a business deal where his team had executed an MOU between him and our client. Strangely, Manish Harishankar doesn’t understand that extortion doesn’t happen in legal binding; it’s called business. Under the terms of the MOU, our client had gotten a presenter on board and honored her side of the commitment,” Mishra explained.
The lawyer further elaborated that Digangana had arranged for the episodes to be viewed by the presenter, who initially did not like them. Manish then proposed to make creative changes to satisfy the presenter. After re-editing the show, the presenter agreed to come on board, although more changes were still required. Manish promised to fix these after their agreement. However, Manish failed to meet the payment timelines multiple times, leading to the deal falling through.
“Our client hasn’t taken a single penny from Manish for the presenter deal. He claimed that our client had only traveled with his editor, again false. Our client had traveled with her mother and Manish’s editor. The episodes were viewed in the presence of our client, her mom, the presenter, and the presenter’s team. Any claims otherwise are simply made with the intention to malign our client’s reputation,” Mishra added.
The legal team also addressed the issue of an iPad, which Manish claimed was with Digangana. “The iPad which Manish claims to be with our client, he very much knew that the iPad is not with our client. In fact, our client received the iPad back from the team and messaged Manish to get it picked. Manish has still not gotten it picked, we wonder why so much drama,” Mishra stated.
Manish Harishankar’s production house, MH Films, had earlier filed a police complaint against Digangana under IPC Sections 420 and 406. They also issued a defamation notice to actor Rakesh Bedi and Digangana’s fashion designer Krishan Parmar, accusing them of making false public statements about the show maker’s unwillingness to collaborate, which allegedly damaged the project’s reputation.
The controversy has also affected the show’s production, with reports indicating financial issues and unpaid dues to actors and support staff. The series, which stars Zeenat Aman, Zarina Wahab, Shweta Tiwari, and Sourabh Raaj Jain, is based on the subject of bra fittings and the health concerns arising from wearing the wrong size.
Despite the ongoing legal battle, Digangana remains firm in her stance. “Manish has spread false quotes in the name of our client, tarnished her reputation, made false claims in the media, leaked a business deal proposal, signed a false MOU with a commitment of having money when there was none, cheated by not returning/cancelling the MOU he has, didn’t pay our client’s actors fee yet while he falsely claims that he has, in fact, our client’s staff hasn’t been paid, defamed our client, leaked out client’s home address, trapped her in a situation voluntarily and much more. We’ve filed a police complaint against him under IPC sections 509, 406, 420, 499, 500, 503, 506, 63, 199, 211. We have also sent him a defamation notice. Unlike Manish, we have evidence of all transparent communication. Manish is clearly at fault and has the audacity to spread just false information,” Mishra concluded.
The legal battle between Digangana Suryavanshi and Manish Harishankar continues to unfold, with both parties standing firm on their claims. The outcome of this high-profile dispute remains to be seen.
