Actor Tanjin Tisha has rejected allegations of embezzlement after an Indian producer claimed she failed to return advance payments for a cross-border film she eventually could not complete.
The controversy comes weeks after a local fashion house filed a case against the actor for breach of trust and fraud. This time, Indian producer Shariful Dhawak has alleged that Tisha kept a portion of the advance for the Kolkata–Bangladesh joint production "Bhalobashar Morshum", despite withdrawing from the project over scheduling and visa complications.
According to the producer, Tisha signed the contract in July with director M N Raj for an October shoot. However, she later committed to another Bangladeshi film, "Soldier", directed by Shakeeb Fahad, which also began filming in October. As a result, she faced overlapping schedules for both projects.
The Indian team proceeded with a replacement actor, Susmita Chatterjee, and began shooting "Bhalobashar Morshum". Dhawak then requested that Tisha return the advance she had taken at the time of signing the agreement. He alleged that she refused, creating a fresh dispute between the two sides.
Tisha had reportedly signed the project for Tk 11 lakh, receiving Tk 4.12 lakh in two instalments, with the remainder due during shooting and dubbing.
"Since she is no longer doing the film, she should return the money. But instead she is delaying, avoiding calls, and ignoring messages," the producer claimed.
In an audio message sent to the media, Tisha strongly rejected the allegations, calling them "baseless".
"I was paid only one-third of the contract amount. I didn't work for almost one and a half months while waiting for the visa for his film. Our contract clearly stated that if such a situation occurred, the one-third payment would not be refundable," she said.
Tisha also denied claims that she was unresponsive.
"He is lying when he says he kept calling me and I stayed silent. He wanted to talk to me at 2am one night — I don't take calls at such hour. I remember texting him during the day. As for him calling himself a producer — he is not. I know who the actual Bangladeshi producer is, but I won't mention the name now," she added.
The actor said she was "sincerely sorry" that the matter had escalated publicly but insisted that "Shariful's intentions are not clean".