Chennai: Film financier S. Mukanchand Bothra on Friday refuted actor Rajnikanth’s statement wherein the actor had informed Madras HC that the suit filed by the financier was intended to defame him and to extort money.“There is no truth to it. I don't intend to grab money from anyone. I want him to retract his statement that I am trying to extort money from him. It has hurt me a lot,” Mr Bothra said during a press conference at a luxury hotel here on Friday.
In an affidavit filed at the Madras High Court three days ago (July 8), the actor contended that film financier S. Mukanchand Bothra’s suit against him was intended to defame him and to extort money.The actor was responding to a suit filed by the financier, which sought a directive to Rajinikanth to take action against Kasthuri Raja for misusing his name to avail loan of Rs 65 lakh from him back in 2012.
“I am neither a guarantor nor a borrower for the alleged loan transaction. If Bothra’s contention is really true about his granting loan of Rs 65 lakh to Kasthuri Raja, he should have filed a civil suit for recovery thereof and not otherwise”, Rajinikanth had said.
Two days later, the financier hit back at the actor at a media gathering saying that he was deeply hurt by the actor's statements. Bothra alleged that he was forced to take the legal route after the actor kept mum on the issue for long. “If he had just given us an audience, I would have even waived the money, about Rs1.5 crore (including interest). But, he never met us in spite of us trying several times. His silence on the issue was killing us. That is when we decided to approach the court,” Mr Bothra said.
Bothra went on to add that he would have not raised this issue had the actor not initiated a legal battle against the producers of a Hindi film from using his name in the title. “When his name being misused in a film in Mumbai worries him, why is he not worried about his own in-law misusing his name?” Bothra wondered.
