Yash's Mother Files Police Complaint, Alleges Rs 64 Lakh Film Promotion Fraud

Pushpalatha, the mother of popular Kannada actor Yash, has filed a police complaint accusing film promoter Harish Arasu and his associates of large-scale financial cheating, fund misuse, and criminal intimidation surrounding her debut production, Kothalavadi, as per the reports in the Kannada media.

Pushpalatha has requested the High Grounds Police Station to take legal action against Harish Arasu, Manu, Nitin, Mahesh Guru, and Swarnalatha (Rannayak) for charges including cheating, criminal intimidation, defamation, and criminal conspiracy.

Pushpalatha claims she hired Harish to handle the film's promotion, agreeing on a fee of Rs 23 lakh for the movie. Going by the FIR, Harish received two initial payments totalling Rs 15 lakh. However, Pushpalatha alleges that the promoter went on to illegally collect an additional Rs 24 lakh using the film's brand name through other channels. She states the total amount Harish took from her is Rs 64,87,700, which includes a Rs 4 lakh cash payment made for print advertising.

Despite collecting this large sum, Pushpalatha asserts that no actual promotion was carried out for the film, which was scheduled for an August 1, 2025 release. She claims the film's actor had to personally spend Rs 21,75,000 for the trailer launch on July 23 because Harish failed to deliver.

She also alleges that numerous social and film media promoters were left unpaid.

When she confronted Harish about the lack of promotion and the misappropriated funds, she claims he threatened her and demanded an additional Rs 27 lakh back.

The producer further discovered on the release date (August 1) that there was no promotional material available. She learned Harish was allegedly spreading negative publicity and threatening to post defamatory comments about her online and cause a disturbance at her home.

Yash's mother has further accused Harish of influencing Mahesh Guru and Swarnalatha (Rannayak) to post derogatory remarks about her online, damaging her reputation.

She and the film's director, Shriraj Ravari, also claim to have received threatening phone calls on August 15 from Harish, Manu, Nitin, and others.