Nikitha Thukral banned from Sandalwood. Fair play?

The past four days have been nothing short of an action-packed tearjerker for Sandalwood audiences. Only, this time, the drama unfolding before us is a slice out of real life. First, Challenging Star Darshan gets arrested after he allegedly beat up his wife. The wife’s complaint reads that it was Darshan’s alleged affair with actress Nikitha Thukral (Darshan’s heroine in three films), which led to their marital discord.

While Darshan’s popularity with the masses and the film industry has garnered him a lot of support, a surprise was in store, when on Sunday, Munirathna Naidu, Karnataka Film Producers’ Association president, announced that the Mumbai-based heroine will be banned for three years from Sandalwood for causing trouble in the couple’s lives.

While the entire case is still under the police and legal scanner, the industry seems to be going all out to find a ‘compromise’.

While, whether the Mumbai heroine did have an affair with Darshan or not is yet to be ascertained, the industry bigwigs have already gone ahead and announced this ban, Incidentally, Nikitha has three films (Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna opposite Darshan, Cottonpete opposite Aditya and Priyasakhi opposite Ramesh Aravind) currently underway.

If the case initially was about condemning domestic violence, it has now taken a different turn. The film industry, which has always been seen as a man’s world, proved its gender bias with this ban. Nikitha, who had to learn about this decision from the television channels, is left questioning as to why is she being made the target in a case where she wasn’t involved.

The case booked against Darshan was attempt to murder and newspaper reports confirm that he’s admitted to have raised his hand against his wife Vijayalakshmi. Yet, he is being treated in the VIP section of a hospital and no one from the industry is questioning him. At times like these one can’t help but wonder if it’s better to be a man in showbiz.