Bengaluru: Kannada film industry and movie fans are struggling to come to terms with the arrest of popular actor Darshan Thoogudeepa in connection with a murder case, according to NDTV.
The arrest has sent shockwaves across the film fraternity in Karnataka, the outlet reported on Friday.
Darshan's colleague and co-actor, Sanjjanaa Galrani, termed the unexpected development a “doomsday” for the industry.
Police arrested Darshan and 12 others after the body of Renuka Swamy was found in a drain in Bengaluru.
Swamy was allegedly killed for sending inappropriate messages to Darshan's co-star and girlfriend Pavithra Gowda.
Reacting to the actor’s arrest, Sanjjanaa Galrani reportedly said “This has been a black day for us yesterday, and it's been like a doomsday for the Kannada industry.”
Sanjjanaa Galrani called Darshan a “demigod figure in the Kannada industry.”
“People don't just watch his films, people are out here worshipping him, he is as big as that,” NDTV quoted her as saying.
Galrani remembered Darshan behaving respectfully on the movie sets and described him “soft-spoken gentleman” .
"He would not even call me by my name while shooting. He would refer to me as 'ji suniye' and 'amma,' that is how he represents a woman," she added.
Galrani claimed that allegations against the actor have ‘completely shocked the guts out of every person in Karnataka.’
Offering an instance from her life she said in one movie where he had to lift her, Darshan discussed the scene with her before shooting, adding further she said ‘He has a very beautiful aura around him - the way he talks and respects women."
Defending her colleague over the question of the actor’s ‘temperamental nature’, she said the person she knew and the person being talked about in the news are two different personalities.
Reacting to the controversy she said: "When something like this happens with a celebrity, if there is a 5% allegation, it becomes a 500% allegation”
Meanwhile, the victim's mother called for banning Darshan from the film industry.