Gehana Vasisth questioned by ED for the second consecutive day in connection with the ongoing pornography racket investigation | File Photo
Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioned actor and producer Gehana Vasisth for more then four hours on Tuesday. This marks the second consecutive day she was called in for questioning as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation linked to a pornography racket.
Vasisth, 31, was asked by ED officials about her association with Umesh Kamat, the Managing Director of the Hotshots app. She was questioned about how she met Kamat, the nature of their professional relationship, and whether she had approached Hotshots or was approached by the platform.
During their depostion, Vasisth confirmed that her only interaction with businessman Raj Kundra took place in 2021. She revealed that she met Kundra at an extravagant party hosted by him to launch his OTT platform, Bollyfame, which caters to Bollywood enthusiasts with content ranging from gossip to short films and music videos. The event, which took place in April 2021, was attended by Vasisth at Kamat’s invitation. It was here that she had a formal interaction with Kundra, According to Vasisth, during their formal conversation, Kundra mentioned that they would soon work on some big projects and encouraged her to continue working with Kamath.
Vasisth shared details with the ED officials, about the meeting with Kamat in 2019, when Hotshots had repeatedly approached her to star in bold films. However, she declined the offer due to her discomfort with the explicit content. Vasisth explained that while Kamat had approached her through multiple intermediaries, she rejected the offers, citing her reservations about the films’ explicit nature.
According to her Ravi Gupta and DOP Ajaya Arya approached her for his film on the instruction on Kamat and Vasisth played the role of the film 1+1 but Vasisth stated that she had objections to the bold scenes in the film, particularly the topless scenes played by the second lead actress. During the dubbing of the film, she had a heated argument with director Ravi Gupta, which led to a meeting being arranged with Kamat to address her concerns.
Following this, Vasisth claimed that Kamat offered her a producer’s role, assuring her that she would only need to produce the films while he would handle the script and the casting. Vasisth reportedly produced around 11 films under this arrangement, earning approximately Rs 3 lakh for each film.
As part of the ongoing investigation, the ED had retrieved Vasisth’s phone data and emails, but some details were still being analyzed. The agency has instructed Vasisth to call back on Wednesday morning, and if they find additional information, they will call her for further questioning.
