Tollywood sex racket: Anasuya Bharadwaj says she was approached too

The Tollywood sex racket has left the industry shaken as it has been revealed that some young actors have been lured into this prostitution racket in the guise of work. After Sri Reddy, two more actors have spoken about the sex racket, with Anasuya Bharadwaj accepting she was approached in 2016 by the NRI couple who ran the racket.

According to a report in DNA, the actor said, “I haven’t visited the United States for a long time. I attended an event with music composer Devi Sri Prasad way back in 2014. In 2016, Sreeraj contacted me from his American number, asking me to attend a Telugu association event. I was uncomfortable with the way he spoke. He was talking about making a commitment. I refused to attend the event. Despite my refusal, he put my picture on poster. I tweeted saying I have nothing to do with the event.”

Sanjjana Galrani, who rose to fame with her role in Dandupalya 2 also spoke about the racket, “Fact is that it is not a new thing going in US. Mostly it is C or D-grade artists, doing supporting roles in films... they fall into this trap. Sometimes they are asked to come for a dance performance, where they are lured with more money. Other times its mutual agreement also.”

A 42-page complaint against producer Modugumidi Kishan and his wife was filed by US’ Homeland Security Investigations. Sri Reddy, in an interview to News 18 had earlier revealed that she was approached by the couple too. She had said, “They will arrange visa and everything else for you. Artists are paid anything between $1000 and $10,000, depending on their popularity.”

Sri Reddy has been vocal about the issue of casting couch in the Telugu film industry, however, other senior actors never opened up about this till now.

Now, the president of Movie Artistes Association, Shivaji Raja has reacted to this controversy and said that he and other association members have informed artistes who perform abroad to give details to MAA to verify the credentials of the organisers.

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