Priyanaka Upendra quits fire

Bengaluru:  In a new twist, actress Priyanka Upendra quit the Film Industry for Rights and Equality (FIRE) after serving it for two years.

She cited ‘ideological differences’ and the manner in which FIRE handled actress Sruthi Hariharan’s accusations against Arjun Sarja as the reason behind her decision.

Further, she said that the body which was constituted to provide safe and healthy environment for workers in the industry, especially women, has now deviated from its core objective. Instead of approaching FIRE, Sruthi did it through social media, which left her disappointed, Priyanka said, adding that FIRE was used to highlight Sruthi's case.

She expressed anguish that Chetan is peddling his personal ideologies through FIRE without the consent of other members.

Reports were doing rounds since Wednesday morning that some other members too had quit FIRE, but they could not be confirmed.

Chetan, however, said that Priyanka’s decision was not sudden and she had earlier expressed her inability to head the body. She was abroad for quite some time and she was not informed of the recent developments, he said.