Diganth denies Venkatesh's allegations

Actor Diganth has denied producer Venkatesh's allegations that he has delayed the shooting of his upcoming movie Preethi Nee Shashwathana for a year. At a recent press conference, Venkatesh had alleged that the Manasaare actor had not been responding to his calls.

The Kannada actor said that it was all a big lie. He said that he was approached by Venkatesh for Preethi Nee Shashwathana in early 2008. He was busy with other projects. So he declined the film. "But he kept forcing me to sign it. That"s when I told him to go ahead with the flick and that I"d work with him at a later stage," the Bangalore Times quotes him as saying.

The producer had even claimed that Diganth had taken a Rs 3 lakh advance and was not ready to return it. The actor slammed his claims by saying, “How can I give it back when I was never paid an advance? Since I had made it clear right at the beginning that I wouldn"t be a part of the film, how could I claim an advance?"

The Sandalwood star is presently busy shooting for director-turned-producer Yograj Bhat"s Pancharangi in Moodbidri, Mangalore. He wants to concentrate on Yogaraj's current film. “Not everyone gets to work with Yograj Bhat four times. He"s reposed his trust in me and I don"t want to let him down."