Close on the heels of the controversy about Deepika Padukone feeling disrespected for being objectified and commodified by a section of the media; here comes another shocker! In the garb of disseminating information, a film director has termed an actress as “100% useless” in print.

With a news report in a leading tabloid of Mumbai, regional film director S.K.Basheed has claimed that Bigg Boss 8 contestant Sonali Raut (of Himesh Reshamiya’s The Xpose fame) hiked her price last minute to avoid being part of his feature film.

The said report states, the actress “abandoned” the Kannada film director’s Bollywood debut flick titled ‘100% Useless Fellows’ for the reality show hosted by Salman Khan, just days before the film was set to roll. It quotes Basheed saying, “Sonali is 100% useless.” (sic)

The report further states that Basheed has taken the matter to Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association (IMPPA), with the director threatening, “They now need to inform the broadcasters to evict her from the show (Bigg Boss).” (sic)

Refuting the report, Sonali Raut’s publicist Dale Bhagwagar clarifies, “Sonali respects Mr Basheed and shares a cordial relationship with him. And a lady needs to be respected in return,” he remarks.

The PR specialist also blames the media for irresponsible reporting. “Journalistic ethics demand that the media should cross-check for facts before publishing, and refrain from using such headlines, as terming a lady 100% useless,” notes Bhagwagar.

Recently, it was reported in a section of the media, that in a last minute change, Bollywood actress Sonali Raut replaced cricketer Ajit Chandila in Bigg Boss.

According to the report, Chandila was dropped as his name came up in the infamous match fixing scandal that rocked Indian Premier League, Season 6.

But Sonali’s publicist Dale Bhagwagar has denied the rumours that she was a last-minute replacement for the cricketer. “Sonali was a clear choice; not a replacement. She was finalized for Bigg Boss more than a month before the season rolled,” Dale has clarified.

Apparently, after being approached, Sonali was even wondering whether she should participate in Bigg Boss or not. “That’s true,” admits Dale. He explains, “Sonali has just made her Bollywood debut as a heroine in Himesh Reshamiya’s The Xpose which turned out to be a success. So she was in two minds when the Bigg Boss offer came, immediately after the debut movie.”

The actress had a couple of film offers after The Xpose, but had not begun shooting for new projects. “Sonali loves challenges and Salman Khan. She checked with me if she should do Bigg Boss or not, and I counter asked, why not?”

When the public relations expert asked Sonali what would make her agree to Bigg Boss, she promptly told him, how much she loved Salman Khan. After that, it wasn’t so difficult for her to make up her mind.

India’s biggest reality show Bigg Boss hosted by Bollywood megastar Salman Khan, took a zabardast take-off on Sunday with the aircraft theme. As the show progressed, three members deputed by Bigg Boss and called the Secret Society (nicknamed SS), took charge of the contestants on Day 1.

But when the SS asked for some straight answers, the audience was shocked to find that three of the contestants harboured negative feelings for their co-passenger Sonali Raut; heroine from the film The Xpose.

Diandra Soares termed Sonali ‘the most fake contestant’, but answered in the negative when asked whether she (Diandra) had ever done anything illegal in life.

When Karishma Tanna was asked to speculate who she felt she may have an altercation with in the future, she took Sonali and Minissha’s name. In an answer to another question, Karishma said, she felt, Sonali did not like her.

Minissha Lamba had made friends with Sonali, but when the SS asked her to name a contestant with ‘the maximum negative attitude’, she too, took Sonali’s name. Though Minissha clarified that maybe, Sonali has not been openly interacting with everyone out of initial shyness. She said, that it should not be mistaken for an attitude problem, as one cannot judge a person by staying together just for a day.

All this, while the Raut girl looked calm and composed. “Sonali has a very loving and friendly personality, but she does take time to open up to new people,” explains her publicist Dale Bhagwagar. “Sonali is a mixed bag. She is fun-loving and spunky, but also a no-nonsense person. She is easy-going, but full of values and integrity,” he adds.

Now, now! Going by the current situation in Bigg Boss, if what Dale says is true, we may soon have a lot of drama unfold around this girl.

When Himesh Reshammiya’s The Xpose released this year, much ado was made about a spat between its heroines Sonali Raut and Zoya Afroz.

Rumour mills were abuzz about Zoya having a huge tiff with Sonali on the sets of Kapil Sharma’s television show Comedy Nights with Kapil; and having slapped her in front of the entire production unit.

Turns out, we were all fooled. “All that hype and hoopla was ‘engineered’ by the makers to prop up the movie. It was a publicity stunt,” reveals Sonali Raut. Shocking!

She explains, “We all know there was a slap scene in the movie as part of the story.  Actually, that was all. It never happened in real life. There was no tiff on the sets of the TV show and no slap.”

Sonali may have unwittingly exposed The Xpose episode to scrutiny, but when asked about Himesh, she only praises him. “Himesh Reshammiya is actually unstoppable. Isn’t that magnificent? He keeps coming back.”