Did Darshan Trouble Sudeep, Puneeth Rajkumar? Producer Umapathy's Shocking Claims

Producer Umapathy Gowda has stirred controversy with his shocking claims over the alleged mistreatment of Sandalwood stars like Sudeep and Puneeth Rajkumar by actor Darshan, who is currently under arrest in connection with the Renuka Swamy murder case.

In an interview with TV9, he said that many producers and technicians have congratulated him for speaking out against Darshan.

Umapathy stated that while only a handful of individuals, such as Jaggesh, Dhruva Sarja, and Ravi Varma, have spoken out against Darshan, many others, including industry heavyweights like Sudeep and late Puneeth Rajkumar, have chosen to remain silent despite enduring troubles at the hands of Darshan.

"Sudeep, on many occasions, choose to remain silent despite facing the brunt of Darshan. Same with Puneeth Rajkumar. If they had taken appropriate measures earlier, the current situation could have been averted.

"What I tell them is that there is no need to be silent," he added.

Sudeep-Darshan Issue
At one time, Sudeep and Darshan shared a strong friendship, but in 2017, their relationship took a downturn. Darshan publicly announced the end of their friendship, stating that they were merely colleagues in the film industry.

Two years later, Sudeep's decision to unfollow Darshan on Twitter signaled the failure of any attempts at reconciliation. Speculation arose, particularly after reports from Bangalore Mirror suggested that Sudeep's family members had received abusive voice messages, allegedly from Darshan. Despite this, Sudeep refrained from retaliation, reportedly because big producers stopped him from reacting.

His reaction to Darshan's arrest had clearly hinted the same. It is suggested that while others involved in the conflict managed to reconcile, Sudeep, who attempted to mediate the dispute between Darshan and Vijayalakshmi, bore the brunt of the fallout.

Darshan-Puneeth Issue
In 2021, a controversy erupted when Umapathy claimed that Darshan sought ownership of a property he had purchased from Puneeth Rajkumar and Raghavendra Rajkumar on Residency Road.

Umapathy had acquired the property, but Darshan expressed interest in obtaining it from the producer. Umapathy said, "I had purchased it from Sandalwood's first family, and handing it over to Darshan would have given a completely different meaning to the issue."

Darshan, however, presented a differing account to the media. According to the actor, the producer had initially offered to sell him the property. "The producer himself had to lend me money, and if he intended to sell, I suggested he use the proceeds to transfer the property to me," Darshan claimed.