It
all started when actor Sara Arfeen Khan did not get paid for her stint in the
show Jamai Raja. The actor says that once the show ended, the producer also
disappeared. "I worked for 3 months in Jamai Raja last year. I was part of
the show in October, November and December and my first cheque was due in
January. The show got shut down and since then we have had problems connecting
to the office and Meenakshi," says Sara.
When
they got no response, the former cast decided to approach Cine and TV artists
association (CINTAA). "After 5 months of no one responding to our calls
and messages, we actors formed a group and decided to go to CINTAA. CINTAA
organised a meeting with Meenakshi, who
promised us that the cheques would be cleared in a few weeks. She even mailed
us the same. After that we waited for another two months, but nothing
happened," she says.
Sara
adds, "Finally after dropping messages and warning her a couple of times
about going to the media, her office staff released two post dated cheques for
one month's payment. But the first cheque bounced! I informed the office and
got really mad at them and they promised me that they will issue another cheque
and that the 2nd one will not bounce."
However,
the second cheque also bounced, which was when Sara decided to take legal action. "After waiting for
another 10 days, my office deposited the cheque which also bounced. Then I told
my coordinator that this is a criminal offence and that I need to talk to my
lawyer. After that I got a a message from Meenakshi promising me that she will
do a RTG transfer within 5 days. After 5 days, I messaged her again and
reminded her of her promise. She did an RTG transfer of only 50,000, which was
nothing compared to the amount due. Several messages were sent to her and my
coordinator and there was no response. Then I contacted my lawyer and he sent
her the first notice," she says.
Although
some money was returned, Sara says that a lot is still balance. "After the
notice, she transferred the balance amount of one month's payment. By then my
lawyer had already stated in the notice that according to section 138, she has
to pay 18 percent of the bounced cheques. After that no money has been
transferred and there is no response from Meenakshi regarding our payments.
It's been 7 months and our payments have not been cleared. I am left with no
chance but to seek the help of media," says Sara.
A
helpless Sara states that she feels hurt at being betrayed in this way. "I
feel very cheated as I used to work religiously and would travel for 3 hours
daily to Naigaon for the show. Most of the time I even put in extra hours,
which clearly has not been appreciated " she says.
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