Daijiworld Media Network - Hyderabad
Hyderabad, Apr 24: In the recent past, leading ladies from the film industry had accused actors, directors and producers involvement in ‘casting couch’ through the ‘Me too’ movement and the disclosures on many top names in the industry had created a massive storm. Yet another incident has struck the film fraternity when Vinay Varma, who allegedly asked his students to strip naked as part of an acting exercise. He has been let out on bail on Tuesday for outraging the modesty of a woman.
On Monday, Vinay Varma, who runs the theatre group Sutradhar, purportedly asked his students to remove their clothes after closing the windows and doors as part of an acting workshop. Though the boys in the group removed their clothes, a 21-year-old woman based in Hyderabad was shocked when she was also asked to remove her clothes. Later she informed her parents about the incident and they approached a women’s rights activist and the SHE Team – a police team working for the safety and security of women.
The case was transferred to Narayanaguda police station after the woman’s complaint. Vinay Varma was arrested on Tuesday and let out on bail later on the same day.
The accused was booked under section 509 of IPC (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) based on the complaint. Two more charges of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation, under 354 A and 506 of IPC, were added later.
According to web portal The News Minute, the women said, “After we finished doing meditation, he walked in, closed the windows and doors, and asked us to remove our clothes. We were looking at each other, then he shouted, ‘remove your clothes or leave the class’. Then immediately, the boys obeyed him and removed their clothes. He asked them to remove their undergarments as well.”
However Vinay has denied the claim and told, "This is part of the acting exercise where we mould them (students) and test if they're able to do it. The students who can't do it are told to stand outside the class.” He admitted that these things weren't disclosed to students at the time of joining and it is not possible to disclose the mode of training during the interview. “We are willing to reimburse the fee of those who can't do it (remove clothes)," he added.
Vinay Varma, in his website, describes himself as an actor, director, voice-lender, dubbing artiste, script-writer, translator and casting director. He has also acted in a couple of Telugu films and has been running the theatre group in Hyderabad for almost two decades.