Upasana Singh Wins Fresh Election Round Amid Super-Ugly CINTAA Spat

CINTAA held its fresh elections on September 12 amid a prolonged leadership dispute. The elections were called by the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) after a series of resignations from CINTAA’s Executive Committee. A court allowed the elections to proceed, with the outcome subject to the result of the ongoing legal proceedings. On Saturday evening, actress Upasana Singh and her group within CINTAA won the fresh election round.

Tracing the timeline

There had been a storm brewing within the Cine & TV Artistes’ Association (CINTAA) for a few months now. Almost eight members handed in their resignations because they felt that office-bearers Poonam Dhillon and Padmini Kolhapure were reportedly taking unilateral decisions, forcing other members to step down. In a conversation with a light-eyed actress, who is a member of CINTAA, The Free Press Journal learnt that she and some others were fed up with the functioning of “PD and PK”, who were allegedly showing ‘dictatorship’ qualities.

On Friday, things took an uglier turn, with bickering members like Upasana Singh and Kunickaa Anand on one side and others like Poonam and Padmini on the other trading insults. Kunickaa and her faction alleged that important paperwork of the association had reportedly been taken home by Poonam; but we must categorically state that none of the allegations were proven till the time of going to press.

A video clip showed how the Mumbai Police was forced to intervene. One also saw a female police officer actually telling the two sides to calm down, or else things would reach a head. And, if the spat turned uglier, the police may even have to consider filing an FIR. Once again, Bollywood’s unruly side was depicted, with one key actor, who is a CINTAA member, saying, “This is so embarrassing. Wish ladies would behave like ladies (ouch!)”

Published on: Saturday, September 12, 2026, 08:50 PM IST