Premi Viswanath who played the titular role claims she quit the serial after the channel sidelined her for requesting a payrise.
Premi Viswanath
Premi Viswanath says she quit but the director claims she was dropped. She was introduced with much fanfare and when Malayalam serial Karuthamuthu started airing fewer episodes with the much-touted character ‘Karthika’ portrayed by Premi Viswanath, her absence became a talking point. Confirming rumours of her being dropped from the popular serial that deals with the problems faced by a dark-skinned girl, Karuthamuthu soon went on air with a new face as Karthika. Soon, she donned the garb of an anchor for another channel.
On Saturday, Premi justified her move through a Facebook post. She claimed that her decision to ‘quit’ the serial was a deliberate one and that the makers of Karuthamuthu kept her away from the serial for two months and this was promoted her to take up compering. “They were deliberately trying to prevent me from working as I asked for a hike. My initial payment was Rs 1,500 per day which they had assured will be increased after 40 days. It was after repeated requests and 250 episodes that they finally increased it by Rs 500.”
She adds: “What they did was wrong. How am I supposed to live without any work for two months? Their agreement states that I will be given work for 15 days every month. Moreover, it was specified in their agreement that I was not supposed to act so I took up anchoring temporarily. They used this to throw me out.” Praveen Kadakkavoor, director of Karuthamuthu, denies these arguments. “She had signed the agreement which does not allow her to take up work with a rival channel, especially since she plays the lead role. Moreover she did not communicate her plans to the channel. It was the channel’s decision to take her off the show. Besides, her attitude was making it impossible for the crew to work with her.”
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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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