Deliberate attempt to tarnish Darshan’s image; fans are taking note, says Kaatera producer Rockline Venkatesh

In the last few days, Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa has been grabbing eyeballs not only for delivering the first big hit of the year with Kaatera, but also for an alleged party that went way beyond stipulated hours of a Bengaluru restobar. Darshan has been named along with other actors like Dhananjaya, Abishek Ambareesh, Chikkanna, etc., in a case pertaining to the group allegedly being served food and alcohol past 1 am on January 4. The actors have recorded their statements with the police.

Clarifying what had taken place, producer Rockline Venkatesh addressed the media after the actors went to the police station and said that the restobar was kept open on request as he had to make arrangements for refreshments for the celebrity guests who had come for a special screening of Kaatera on the night of January 3. This show ended late, following which, Venkatesh asked the restobar to arrange food. But since some staff had already left, this was then done with minimum employees, which delayed the food delivery. The plan, said Venkatesh, was to eat and leave by the time of the closing hour. In fact, Darshan had left and was on his way home when Venkatesh asked him to return. That, according to the producer, is all that happened; there was no party as is being reported. He added that he could not provide further details of their police statements.

Venkatesh made it a point, though, to highlight that this attempt to malign Darshan’s image was being watched by his fans and the whole world. This, he said, would definitely not be the first time that a restobar had remained operational beyond stipulated hours and wondered why only they were being called in to record police statements. He added that should there be a need they will seek legal recourse in this matter. The producer maintained, though, that if the authorities find that they were in the wrong they will accept the same and that rules are the same for everyone.