Bhubaneswar: An attempt for an amicable settlement of the dispute, involving Ollywood director Bobby Islam and actor Manoj Mishra, took an ugly turn on Friday with the former accusing the latter of threatening and attempting to attack him in front of Bhubaneswar DCP office here.
High drama unfolded near the office amid a heated exchange of words between Bobby and Mishra. The actor was later seen charging at the director only to be stopped by a cop, who then tried to drag him into the police station.
“Manoj tried to attack me in the presence of Chandrasekharpur police station IIC Prakash Majhi. He later apologised in front of Bhubaneswar DCP Pinak Mishra. I will file a complaint in this regard at the Saheed Nagar police station,” Bobby said.
Another director Jyoti Das, who had also come to the DCP office, said that Mishra has long been criticising his films and that of others intentionally. “He tried to attack me today in the presence of cops,” he added.
Bhubaneswar DCP said that Manoj had lodge a complaint at Chandrasekharpur police station, alleging that Bobby has been threatening and abusing him. “Bobby also filed a complaint with Dargah Bazaar police in Cuttack yesterday. They had come here with their respective grievances. Two cases have been registered on basis of the complaints and investigation is on. We have counselled them to refrain from personal attacks and they have also been warned against indulging in such unruly behaviour,” he told reporters.
In his complaint, Bobby had alleged that he had received death threats from an unknown number through a WhatsApp call.
Manoj told reporters that Bobby personally attacked him in a television show by calling him ‘Randi Pua’. “He again called me names when we reached the DCP office this morning. As he continued with it, I lost my temper. I should not have reacted that way which is why I apologised. But I will continue to oppose the use of the title ‘Randi Pua Ananta’ for an upcoming film, which is both objectionable and vulgar. When the word ‘Udandi” could be removed from the title of the film ‘Udandi Sita’, why not this? But I leave it to the censor board to take a call on it,” he added.The actor has been at loggerheads with directors, who had earlier lodged a complaint against him for called them incompetent.