Exclusive | Poonam Dhillon on viral CINTAA clash: We're safeguarding our members’ documents, whats wrong in that?

Poonam defends her actions during a confrontation with Upasana, alleging it was misrepresented in viral footage, adding that they had to file a NC against them

Updated on: Sep 12, 2026, 16:40:57 IST

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The ongoing dispute within the Cine and TV Artistes’ Association (CINTAA) has escalated, with allegations of documents being removed from its office amid a legal battle and court-mandated elections. The row intensified after videos showing former president Poonam Dhillon, former vice-president Padmini Kolhapure, former general secretary Upasana Singh and others arguing over the attempt to move documents and access to the office surfaced online.

Poonam says the documents were being moved to safeguard CINTAA’s records. “We were taking CINTAA papers to the CINTAA office. That office of CINTAA is the registered office in all our documents. Even with the trade union, that is our registered office, where we took our documents for safeguard,” she tells us.

Poonam stresses that the documents contained years of records belonging to CINTAA members. “Our files were not just eight files. These are records of 7,000 to 8,000 members. And those are over the years. It is not of the last one or two years,” she says, adding, “What are we taking? Are we taking the property? No, we are taking our CINTAA members’ information, their KYCs. We do not want that to be compromised and fall into the hands of unscrupulous people.”

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Poonam alleges that the confrontation became “rude, violent and abusive” and that their cars were blocked. “Yesterday, we filed an NC against them. Because they were very rude and violent and abusive and all that kind of stuff against us. They blocked our cars,” she says.

Addressing her interaction with Upasana in the viral video, Poonam says the footage does not show what happened immediately before it was recorded. “Upasana Singh, who was my general secretary till a month ago, is shoving her phone in my face and saying, ‘Yes, yes, we will shoot.’ I said, ‘Upasana, no, stop this, don’t do this.’ So I put my hand on her phone,” she says, denying that she tried to snatch or damage it. “I just held her hand out of the phone and she is screaming from there, ‘Look, look, hold my hand, look at me.’”

During her last conversation with us, Upasana had alleged that Poonam and Padmini were trying to hide irregularities in the documents they took away. Poonam hits back at the claim, questioning what irregularities she is referring to and pointing to CINTAA’s financial processes. She says the accounts were regularly presented before the executive committee and that she had proposed more frequent audits. “I’m the one who suggested that let’s not wait for an audit for one year. Let’s do a quarterly audit. Let’s get the auditor to come every three months, audit everything,” she says. Poonam adds that the only information they did not share was the personal details of donors from the RK show, citing their request for privacy.

The veteran actor also alleges that the ongoing dispute has affected CINTAA’s finances, claiming that its bank accounts have been frozen. “Ever since this matter has started we have been taking care of all the CINTAA related funds by our pockets. These people have blocked all our office accounts. We have not been able to pay people their salaries,” she says. “Today we have no working bank account.” She adds that the situation has also affected the association’s ability to provide welfare and medical assistance to members.

Speaking about the CINTAA election held on September 12, Poonam maintains that the process is not valid and questions the Federation of Western India Cine Employees’ (FWICE) intervention in CINTAA’s internal matters. “FWICE has no business interfering in CINTAA’s internal matters according to their constitution and according to our constitution,” she says. The Poonam-Padmini faction had challenged the election in court; while the poll was allowed to proceed, its outcome remains subject to the ongoing legal proceedings.

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