Manisha dupes producer

Actress Manisha Koirala has been accused of cheating. Producer Anil Mehta, whose film Anjaane was released last week, plans to take the actress to court if she does not settle the matter. The film could not be released in the central India territory, allegedly due to Koirala's previous debts to the distributors in the region.

Mehta, who is annoyed with the Manisha's unprofessional behaviour says she still owed money to the distributors of that territory, since the time she released her home production Paisa Vasool there. "The distributors of the region, which comprises Rajasthan and Bihar, refused to release my film Anjaane till Manisha settled their previous dues that amounted to approximately Rs 3 lakhs," Mehta says.

The actress, in turn, accused the producer of not settling her payments till date. Reacting to this, Mehta says, "I have already settled her payment. I have issued the laboratory a cheque of Rs 10 lakhs without which they would not have released the prints of my film. I had informed Manisha about this. Also, she had promised me that once the money was given to her by the laboratory, she would pay off the CI distributors. But she has not done that so far. In fact, I had to pay Rs 35,000 to the distributors in Rajasthan to whom Manisha actually owed money. I could release the film in that territory because I knew the distributors in Rajasthan on a personal level."

Director Harry Fernandes agrees, "What Manisha has done is unethical. Despite her dues being settled completely, she refused to promote the film. How unscrupulous can she be? Isn't it a part of her job to promote the film till the day it is released?" Attempts to contact Manisha were unsuccessful as the actress had switched off her phone