Swastika Mukherjee has made another public appearance, this time accusing a producer of sexual harassment and intimidation in connection with her forthcoming Bengali film, Shibpur. The man in issue, Sandeep Sarkar, has reportedly sent emails of a threatening nature to the actress, asking for unclarified ‘cooperation’. Swastika also claims that the aforementioned party has threatened her with’morphed’ images that they may release.
Swastika had attempted to keep the brewing controversy under wraps, for the sake of her film Shibpur. However, she soon decided to seek help from the authorities. She first lodged a complaint at the Golf Green Police Station in Kolkata, also requesting help from the Eastern India Motion Pictures Association (EIMPA). Swastika shared with the press how the shooting experience for the film was seamless, both from her side as well as the administration. She claims to never have met Sarkar during the course of filming, stating that the man reached out to her over an email, asking her to “cooperate” in a threatening tone. Swastika also alleges that the threatening emails contained attachments with uncomplimentary morphed pictures of herself.
Further threats extended
Another party engaged allegedly made threats to Swastika’s manager as well. The guy identified as Ravish Sharma claimed to be Sarkar’s friend. Sharma allegedly repeated the threats in a similar manner. Swastika described how Sarkar kept bragging about his contacts at the US Consulate, claiming that if she did not comply, she would never be granted a US visa.
Swastika Mukherjee was last seen in Qala from 2022, where she played the role of Urmila Manjushree. The same year she also starred in Bengali film Srimati. She is currently awaiting the release of her next Bengali film, Shibpur, a political thriller which will hit theatres on 5 May.