Darshan behind bars; Rs 40 crore at stake

The Kannada film industry is hoping that ‘Challenging Star’ Darshan, who has been arrested on charges of attempt to murder of his wife, is released from judicial custody at the earliest. For, more than Rs 40 crore is at stake!

The actor was scheduled to leave for Switzerland on Friday for the shooting of a song from Chingaari directed by choreographer Harsha. Similarly, shooting for three other films – Sangolli Rayanna (epic period film), directed by Naganna; Viraat by P Vasu and another untitled film — are in progress. Darshan has apparently received an advance from a producer for another untitled movie.

His forthcoming film – Saarathy – directed by his elder brother Dinakar Toogudeepa is facing release problems as the producer has run into financial problems. Saarathy has already crossed Rs 9 crore in terms of production cost, and the film’s audio is declared a flop!

The worse for the actor, who was castigated by several producers in the past for his “indiscipline” on the film sets, was not yet over. Though his beleaguered wife Vijaylakshmi withdrew her complaint against the star actor, the magistrate remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days as the police were yet to withdraw the charge sheet.

Getting out of the jail appears to be a daunting task for Darshan, as the charges are serious in nature, and women’s organizations are already baying for his blood. A few top actors like Ambarish, Duniya Vijay and Prem have expressed solidarity with Darshan. They intervened in the marital discord to restore peace. However, these actors have received flak from the public for siding with Darshan.

On Saturday morning, the actor complained of chest pain and breathing problems following which he was taken to a government hospital for check-up.

Darshan is going through a bad phase in his career. He has not had a single hit since the last three years. His previous films Boss and Prince bombed at the BO.

Multilingual actor Nikita Thukral has emerged as the major reason for the marital discord between Darshan and his wife. In her complaint to the police, Vijaylakshmi accused her husband of having an affair with Nikita. The actor, however, has denied the charge stating that she was a good friend of Vijaylakshmi and unnecessarily her image was being tarnished.

This is the third time that Darshan allegedly physically abused and tortured his wife. Two months ago, star actor Shivarajkumar had intervened to restore peace.