Darshan, actor
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Controversies
2011, 2018, 2023, Jan 2024
June 12, 2024: The Times of India
Bengaluru: Actor Darshan’s arrest in connection with the murder of a man who allegedly sent obscene texts to his co-star isn’t the actor’s first experience with law enforcement agencies. He was arrested in 2011 on charges of allegedly assaulting his wife, and in Nov 2023 his men allegedly unleashed ferocious dogs on an advocate over a parking issue near his house in RR Nagar.
On Sept 9, 2011, Darshan, who was arrested for allegedly assaulting his wife, Vijayalakshmi, was booked for attempt to murder and domestic violence, remanded in judicial custody, and later released on bail. The couple resolved the issue and Vijayalakshmi withdrew the case.
On Sept 24, 2018, Darshan, actor Devaraj, and Darshan’s friend Antony suffered injuries when their SUV rammed a streetlight in north Mysuru.
Darshan’s farm on the outskirts of Mysuru district was raided by forest officials on Jan 20, 2023, in the wake of a video clip in which Darshan is heard speaking about four bar-headed geese from Mongolia on his farm. The birds were rescued.
Last year on Oct 28, an advocate alleged that the caretaker of Darshan’s dogs had picked a quarrel with her when she was trying to remove her car, parked near the actor’s house, and that the dogs bit her. Police registered a case. The complainant alleged Darshan was behind the incident. Police issued notice to the actor, who gave his statement on Nov 14 denying any involvement.
In Jan 2024, the actor was among eight people appearing before Subramanyanagar police for allegedly partying beyond 1 am Jan 4. Police registered a suo motu case against the bar owner and cashier for serving liquor beyond 1 am. Notices were sent to producer Venkatesh, Darshan, and others. They gave statements denying partying beyond 1 am, stating they had met for dinner to celebrate the success of Darshan’s movie, “Kaatera”.
2024, June: arrest
June 12, 2024: The Times of India
Bengaluru: Kannada film star Darshan, his girlfriend Pavithra Gowda and 11 others were arrested Tuesday for allegedly murdering Renuka Swamy, a 33-year-old male fan from Chitradurga who had allegedly posted derogatory comments about the actor’s girlfriend.
Swamy’s body was found early Sunday in a drain in Bengaluru’s Kamakshipalya area, about 200km from Chitradurga from where he was abducted the previous day. Investigations indicated that the pharmacy store employee was tortured to death. Darshan and the others have been remanded in six days’ police custody. Police sources said Swamy’s alleged comment against Pavithra, 37, on social media is said to have angered her 47-year-old star. Darshan is accused of getting Swamy kidnapped and being present along with Pavithra when he was beaten to death.
Darshan had been arrested earlier on charges of attempt to murder his wife in 2011. Pavithra, who has acted in a few films and now runs a boutique in Bengaluru, claims she and Darshan have been together for over 10 years. Darshan and his wife later reached a compromise in the murder attempt case and she withdrew her complaint through court.
On Tuesday morning, Darshan was picked up from a Mysuru hotel and brought to Bengaluru. He had been shooting in Mysuru since June 9 for ‘Devil’, which is being made after his phenomenally successful ‘Kaatera’. The others arrested in the case — Raghavendra, Vinay, Lakshman, Nandeesha, Nikhil, Keshava Murthy, Kartik, Pradosh, Nagaraj, Pavan and Deepak — are friends, associ- ates and aides of the film star.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Pavan, who works at Darshan’s RR Nagar residence, created a fake Instagram account in Pavithra’s name and was chatting with Swamy for the past two months. Trusting it to be Pavithra, Swamy kept abusing her. Pavan then showed these chats to Darshan.
“Raghavendra and a few others abducted Swamy from Chitradurga Saturday morning and brought him to (Bengaluru’s) RR Nagar by 3.30pm,” a police officer said.
He added: “Raghavendra and others locked Swamy in a shed belonging to Vinay. First, Raghavendra, Jagadish, Raju, Karthik and Nikhil beat up Swamy. By evening, Darshan and others visited Swamy and a second round of thrashing took place. By late evening, Pavithra came and one more round of thrashing followed. Swamy died on the spot.”
On Sunday, some of them took Swamy’s body to Kamakshipalya. “They planned to dump it ina drain but in a hurry, they left it by the side. A guard of a nearbybuilding noticed it and alerted thecops,” police said.
K’taka minister tries to shield actor in murder case, but fails
Law Will Take Own Course: Home Minister
SantoshKumar B
Bengaluru : Political circles are abuzz with talk of a state minister’s alleged efforts to shield Sandalwood star Darshan, one of the accused, from the long arm of the law.
Sources said the minister in question was the first person to have been alerted by Darshan’s aides when the star was picked up by the police from a Mysuru hotel on Tuesday morning.
Fearing that his “celebrity friend” would be charged with murder, the minister made frantic calls to police officers, the state home minister, and even to CM Siddaramaiah’s office .
When his desperate knockings on behalf of the star didn’t elicit a response from any quarter, the minister rushed to meet Parameshwara at the latter’s residence in Sadashivanagar.
The minister wanted a verbal order issued to Bengaluru police to let Darshan go. However, much to his disappointment, the home minister told him that the law would take its own course and cut short the conversation.
By then, news of Darshan’s detention was all over television news channels.
Meanwhile, other “well wishers” of the actor, including a BJP MLA, tried to contact senior police officers in an attempt to dilute the charges against the actor.
Pavithra Gowda, a profile
June 12, 2024: The Times of India
Bengaluru: On her Instagram page, she describes herself as a “fashion designer, model, artist and managing director of a boutique”. But what catapulted her to fame in Sandalwood was her proximity to Darshan, dubbed “Challenging Star” by his fans.
In fact, not much was known about Pavithra Gowda’s background till she dramatically entered Darshan’s life, a source in the Kannada film industry said. Daughter of a small-time businessman in Bengaluru and without a film industry godfather, Pavithra, 37, tried to enter filmdom in the early part of the last decade. But, like any other wannabe actress, she found no takers.
She got her portfolio done through a popular film photographer and circulated it. But with offers not coming, she was forced to get married to a person named Sanjay. The couple had a daughter. But they got separated, and the old portfolio, which was doing the rounds, helped her bag a role in the 2013 movie ‘Chatrigalu Saar Chatrigalu’.
It was around this time that she was noticed by Darshan’s team, who had been scouting for a fresh face to cast opposite him. While she didn’t get to act with him, she did three other lesser-known Kannada movies in 2016.
“By then, the dynamics in Darshan’s family had changed and his differences with wife Vijayalakshmi had become public. Pavithra provided him mental comfort at that juncture and the two became quite close,” an industry source said. Subsequently, Pavithra spiked her Sandalwood dream and evolved as a fashion designer while focusing on her daughter.
Though no one in Sandalwood dared to comment about Darshan and Pavithra’s relationship, Vijayalakshmi took potshots at her last year on social media by referring to a photo in which Darshan is seen with Pavithra and her daughter. Pavithra reacted by posting, “Darshan and I have been happy together for the last 10 years.”
Pavithra has over 131,000 followers on Instagram and 21,000 on Facebook, most of them Darshan’s diehard fans. While some acknowledged her role in Darshan’s life, there is a section that loathes her for entering the actor’s life.
