The controversy around the Cine and TV Artistes Association (CINTAA) seems nowhere near to be ending. After several members of the executive committee of the actors’ body — including Vindu Dara Singh and Mukesh Rishi — citing a loss of confidence in the current leadership, president Poonam Dhillon rejected the allegations against her and senior vice president Padmini Kolhapure.
Now, Upasana Singh, general secretary, CINTAA, and Deepak Parashar, former treasurer, CINTAA have opened up about the ongoing row in a new interview.
Upasana Singh alleged that Poonam Dhillon and Padmini Kolhapure are controlling the entire actors’ body with total disregard for democracy.
“Eleven people have resigned from our committee now… Poonam ji, Padmini ji, and their group send show-cause notices to those people who don’t say ‘yes, madam’ to them. Sending show-cause notices is their favourite thing to do,” Upasana Singh told Vickey Lalwani on his podcast.
Earlier, it was reported that eight CINTAA members, including Hemant Pandey, Sahila Chadha, Hetal Parmar, Puneet Issar, Vindu Dara Singh, Vikas Verma and Deepak Parashar, vacated their positions with immediate effect.
The actor, best known for Comedy Nights with Kapil, also claimed that in both Annual General Meetings (AGMs) at CINTAA, no actor member was given a chance to speak during the zero hour. She said a member called Neeta Jha was sent a show-cause notice because she asked for a mic to speak in the meeting.
According to Upasana Singh, “Once, Deepak ji was trying to make his point. I have never seen him raise his voice. And he was shouting really badly. He was saying, ‘Let me speak. Please listen to me.’ Then Poonam ji said, ‘Deepak ji, sit down!’ I told Poonam ji a bit loudly to let Deepak ji speak. I said, ‘Ask the one who is speaking so badly with Deepak ji to be quiet.’ He eventually walked out of the room shouting.”
Asked why Poonam Dhillon — who has been friends with Deepak Parashar for 50 years — doesn’t agree with him, the veteran actor said, “When you join CINTAA and get a position, that chair becomes more important.”
Upasana Singh said Padmini Kolhapure looks after the inhouse media relations of CINTAA. She claimed Padmini Kolhapure decides whose photo is picked for the CINTAA website or who gets to sit where in a certain show. “Deepak ji was cropped from a photo that was clicked at Hema Malini ji’s show. That photo which had Poonam ji and Padmini ji went on the website.”
Deepak Parashar alleged that Poonam Dhillon would misbehave with him and shout at him. After a series of similar incidents, he decided to resign from CINTAA. He resigned twice, but signed a third time when the remaining 10 members put in their papers.
Poonam Dhillon and Padmini Kolhapure hog the limelight and plan press conferences, added Upasana Singh.
In a recent interview after the CINTAA mess hit headlines, Poonam Dhillon claimed that many “inappropriate and vulgar comments” were being made against her.
In her response, Upasana Singh said, “This is vulgar? This is reality… Why did you do a wrong thing at all? So many people resigned. Does that not matter at all? Vindu Dara Singh, Mukesh Rishi, Manoj Joshi, all these big actors have resigned. She must have done something (wrong)… Even if some member is not coming to CINTAA often, how can you give their post to someone else? This is dictatorship, this isn’t democracy… Deepak ji and I were removed from all WhatsApp groups.”
Upasana Singh also said that she and other CINTAA members “will always stand with the truth”.
“CINTAA has Rs 18 crore in its treasury and that money belongs to all its members,” she added.
Fresh CINTAA elections are set to be held on September 12.
Also Read | 8 CINTAA Members Quit Amid ‘Lack Of Transparency’ Allegations Against Poonam Dhillon, Padmini Kolhapure
