#MeToo | Sandalwood actress Sruthi Hariharan accuses action king Arjun Sarja

coastaldigest.com news network
October 20, 2018

Bengaluru, Oct 20: Joining the #MeToo bandwagon, sandalwood actress Sruthi Hariharan has accused one of the biggest stars of South India Arjun Sarja of sexual harassment during the shooting of a Kannada movie.

Sruthi said everything was normal during the initial days, but during a rehearsal for a romantic scene, Arjun Sarja hugged her without permission, ran his hands intimately up and down her back and pulled her closer. This is the first instance in Sandalwood where an actress has named the "perpetrator". Recently, another actress Sangeetha Bhat had levelled allegations against some "top directors" but she refrained from naming anyone.

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."

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 18,2020

Bengaluru, May 18: With the detection of 99 fresh cases of COVID-19, highest single-day spike, including 24 from Bengaluru Urban district, the total number of persons contracted for the disease in the state has surged to 1,246.

Apart from 24 fresh cases in Bengaluru Urban district, Mandya recorded 17 cases followed by Uttara Kannada (09), Raichur (06), Yadagiri (06), Gadaga (05), Kalaburagi (10), Hassan (04), Koppal (03), Vijayapura (05), Mysuru (01), Belagavi (02), Ballari (01), Udupi (01), Kodagu (01) and Koppal (03).

So far 37 persons had succumbed to the virus in the state.

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News Network
April 23,2020

Mangaluru, Apr 23: An astronomical phenomenon, ‘Zero Shadow Day', will be observed in Mangaluru on April 24 and in Udupi on April 25. 

According to a press release from Poornaprajna Amateur Astronomers’ Club, the wonder will commence and people will see their shadows disappear for a few moments at 12:28 pm.

The phenomenon is called as Zero Shadow Day. If a person takes a candle in a dark room and use it to create a shadow of one’s palm on the wall, the hand will cast shadow on the wall as one moves the hand. But when one places the palm on the wall, there will be no shadow.

In the phenomenon, the sun at these times shines exactly above the heads on these days. In astronomy, this point is called as Zenith. The point in the sky directly above an observer at any given location. So it is quite clear now that on Zero Shadow Day, the sun passes through the Zenith as a result of which, all objects will have minimal or no shadow if they are on the ground.

The reason for this happens on some specific days is concerned with astronomy. The earth spins around on its own axis and causes days and nights. It also revolves around the sun causing a year. But the seasons are caused because the axis is tilted at an angle of 23.5 degrees. It is because of this tilt that the sun rises every day in the east gradually moving towards the north till June 21st and then slowly proceeding towards the south till December 21st every year. “We call these days solstice. This means the sun shines between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn every day passing by the equator on the days we call equinox,” the release stated.

As the earth moves around the sun and revolves on its own axis, for all the people between Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, the Sun at noon moves father and closer to the zenith passing through zenith twice causing two Zero Shadow Days per year. People at Mangaluru will observe this on April 24 and August 18 every year and People in Udupi will observe this on April 25 and August 17 every year.

Places with same latitudes will observe the same days of Zero Shadow but the time would vary with longitude. For example, people of Bengaluru as they share the latitude with Mangaluru will also observe it on April 24. While the people of Mangaluru will observe their shadows disappear at 12.28pm, people of Bengaluru will observe this at 12:17pm. Places like Moodabidri, Bantwal, Sakleshpur and Hassan will also observe Zero Shadow on April 24.

Places like Brahmavar, Karkala, Sringeri, Kudremukha, Chikkamagaluru will observe the Zero Shadow Day on the same day as Udupi on April 25.

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News Network
July 1,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 1: Faced with increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the State Capital, Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court Justice A S Okha has decided the Court to function online.

Registrar General Rajendra Badamikar, in the notice issued here on Wednesday, based on order of the Chief Justice, stated that the emergency cases will be conducted through video conference until the next order.

The order also specifies that only the principal seat (Bengaluru) will be conducting proceedings online. High Court benches at Dharwad and Kalaburagi will continue to function as usual.

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