Actress Mamitha Baiju Defends Director Bala After Claiming He Hit Her During Shoot: 'Didn't Experience Mental Or Physical Harm'

Malayalam actress Mamitha Baiju has defended the director of the film Vanangaan, Bala, days after a video went viral in which the actress explained how the filmmaker scolded him on the sets. Mamitha shared an official note on Instagram to clarify that she did not experience any 'physical or mental harm' on the sets.

"I would like to clarify that the news being circulated online regarding my involvement with a Tamil film is absolutely baseless. An excerpt from a film promotion interview has been taken out of context and is being clearly misquoted," she wrote.

The actress added, "I have worked with Bala Sir for close to a year including pre-production and production of the film. He has always been kind enough to help me become a better actor. I would like to reiterate that I have not experienced any mental or physical harm or any other sort of abusive behaviour during my work on that film. I opted out of the film later on, only because of other professional commitments."

For those unversed, it has been said that Mamitha left one of Bala's films because he abused and scolded her.

In one of her now-viral interviews, the actress reportedly opened up on doing a song and dance sequence in Bala's film. She stated, "He (Bala) asked me to observe a woman and then instructed me to perform. I wasn't ready initially, which made me nervous. I learnt it in three takes."

Mamitha also said that the director kept 'scolding' her and used to playfully pat her.

Meanwhile, Bala is awaiting the release of Vanangaan. The film was earlier announced with Suriya, Krithi Shetty and Mamitha as the lead actors. However, they have been replaced Arun Vijay and Roshinini Prakash.