Karishma Tanna lashes out at an event organiser who has accused her of cheating
Neha Maheshwri (BOMBAY TIMES; March 18, 2018)

Karishma Tanna has been accused by Delhi-based event manager Manas Katyal of cheating and threatening him. A police complaint has been lodged in Delhi against the actress. According to Manas, he had approached Karishma to perform at a wedding reception in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, last month for which he paid the actress an advance of over Rs 2.5 lakh. However, there was no written agreement between the two parties.

Refuting the accusation, Karishma told BT, “How can he say that I cheated him, when I am the one who has been cheated.”

Karishma says, “I wasn’t happy with the money offered for the event, but I agreed to do it as they had pursued me for a month. I was apprehensive because it also included a long journey by road, which I usually avoid because of my knee and back issues.”

The actress also claims that Manas did not tell her about the exact location of the event. She says, “He told me that the event is in Moradabad and also shared the details of the hotel I was to stay at. It was only when we were half-an-hour away from the hotel that the driver told us that the destination was Haldwani and not Moradabad, which would take four hours more to reach. That’s when I told him to stop the car as there was no clarity. I frantically called Manas, but there was no response. I was accompanied by two girls — my hair stylist and my manager. We requested the driver to take us back to Delhi, who relented after I pleaded for 15 minutes. I was too scared for my safety. I was traumatised and harassed by this man (Manas). When he finally returned my call, he admitted to his fault and agreed to pay Rs 50,000 more as compensation for the confusion.”

The actress says that if she had to commit a fraud, she would have taken the money and not left Mumbai. In no mood to forgive Manas, Karishma says, “Why should I compensate him? I had to stay at a hotel in Delhi till I got back to Mumbai. My whole day was wasted. I am in touch with my lawyer and we will take appropriate action.”

On his part, Manas says, “I was clear about the venue since the beginning and there is no question of keeping her in the dark. If she wasn’t aware of the destination, how did her dance troupe reach there and perform? She has been claiming that she reached Moradabad, however, the fact is that she returned from Ghaziabad itself. She has also cited health issues as the reason for not travelling for long hours, while the fact is that she was scheduled to perform in Sri Lanka the very next day. She backed out because she didn’t want to lose out on an international project. I have already filed a police complaint and now I plan to take her to court.”