Here's what Bipasha Basu has to say about London event controversy

Bipasha Basu has landed in a controversy which threatens to jeopardize her international image after she walked out of a fashion show in London, allegedly unhappy with the 'unprofessional' handling of affairs by the organisers.

The organisers have, on their part, levied sensational allegations against the actress and demanded £25,000 (Rs20 lakh approximately) in damages from the actress for the loss they have suffered.

Basu made her first public appearance since the controversy erupted, attending the promotional event of a health magazine on whose cover she has been featured. The actress, however, refused to answer any questions on the London row.

When Cinestaan.com asked Basu about the controversy, she refused to talk about it. "I wouldn’t like to add another word to what I had mentioned in my open letter," she said. "I am not going against one word of mine. You guys [journalists] have known me for so many years, it’s beyond my dignity [to respond].” 

The actress had hardly finished her sentence when Nari Hira, owner of Magna Publications, publisher of the magazine, jumped in to defend Basu.

“Yesterday, I learnt from our London office about what happened there," Hira said. "Our London office manager, Mr Shrikanth, called me last night. He met one Mr Ankur, manager of The Montcalm hotel. He told us that the organisers had the worst manners as they did not have the decency to have Bipasha picked up from the airport. I don’t think there is anything worse than that. They didn’t make proper arrangements, Bipasha had to do everything herself."

Asked about the organisers demanding £25,000 in damages, Basu said, "I’m not scared. You will give people space to write and they will say whatever they want.”

In an open letter earlier, Basu had rubbished all allegations made by one of the organisers, Ronita Sharma Rekhi.

“The deal was made with a set of agreed conditions. However, when I landed there for the project as planned, I realized that the organisers hadn't honoured their end of the bargain in spite of confirming with my manager that they had," Basu had written in the letter which first appeared in DNA newspaper.

In a tweet, Basu had then referred to Rekhi as a con woman.

We tried contacting organiser Rekhi, who said the matter was in the hands of their lawyer but vehemently denied failing to send a vechicle to pick Basu up from the airport. 

"We have all the evidecne of what time the car reached. We are in this buisness for long. We will not do things like that," Rekhi said in a communication to Cinestaan.com.

Rekhi had created a stir on social media when she levied sensational allegations of unprofessional conduct by Basu, saying she reduced the organizers and even her own manager to tears over unwarranted demands.

Read Rekhi’s full Facebook text below:

Watch this space for more on the controversy.