Padmini Kolhapure Hits Back At Upasana Singh Over CINTAA Dictatorship Claims

The ongoing controversy within the Cine and TV Artistes Association CINTAA has taken another sharp turn, with Senior Vice President Padmini Kolhapure strongly hitting back at allegations of “dictatorship” levelled against the current leadership. Speaking at a press conference, Padmini defended President Poonam Dhillon and the functioning of the Executive Committee, insisting that no individual can simply take decisions without the approval of the required members.

Addressing the allegations directly, Padmini said, “Now, regarding Upasana-ji—she has stated in the media that a dictatorship prevailed here.” She then explained how decisions are actually taken within CINTAA. “First, a quorum is essential; we need a quorum of eight people before the meeting can even begin. If a decision needs to be made, it must be done by a majority vote,” she said.

Padmini stressed that neither she nor Poonam Dhillon could independently impose decisions on the association. “You can't do anything on your own,” she said, pointing out that even the press conference itself had to be approved through an Executive Committee meeting. “I couldn't just stand up and decide, ‘We are going to hold a press conference.’ I couldn't do that. We held a meeting and got it passed,” she added. She also questioned whether a group consisting of several veteran artistes could realistically be described as a “dictatorship”. Padmini named senior members including Paintal, Rakesh Bedi, Yashpal Sharma, Ghanshyam, CP Thakur, Farooq, Rashid, Jaya, Abhay, Tina and Poonam Dhillon while making her point.

“Do you think we could run a dictatorship?” Padmini asked. “The people who make such claims—they essentially want everyone to just say ‘Yes, Madam.’ Do these people look like the ‘Yes, Madam’ type to you? Do they lack minds of their own?”

According to Padmini, the leadership's objective has always been the welfare of CINTAA members rather than personal power. She recalled how she and Poonam became involved with the organisation after Manoj Joshi and Preeti Sapru approached them with concerns about CINTAAs functioning. “At that time, neither Poonam-ji nor I had any idea what was happening inside the organization,” Padmini said. She explained that although both were already life members, they initially declined the request to become more actively involved. However, they were eventually persuaded after being told that their responsibilities would be limited.

“They said, ‘You don't have to do anything. You just need to attend three meetings a year. We’ll handle the rest,’” Padmini recalled.

Looking back, she said she later realised that the phrase “we’ll handle the rest” meant something very different from what she had initially understood. “They wanted to handle everything themselves, while we were merely meant to be glamorous figures—puppets,” she alleged. Padmini said she eventually suggested that Poonam Dhillon join the team because the two were friends and could work together. The group went on to win the election by what she described as a significant margin. However, she claimed that she and Poonam had very little understanding of the internal structure of CINTAA when they first entered the organisation.

“We had no idea about the specifics,” Padmini admitted. She said the team that approached them had already been discussing who would take which position. “We weren't even aware of posts like Senior Vice President, Vice President, Joint Secretary, or Senior Joint Secretary,” she said.

Padmini also recalled the early days after taking charge, claiming that there were attempts to remove existing staff members from the organisation. She said she and Poonam immediately opposed the idea because they wanted to understand CINTAAs functioning before making major changes. “We said, ‘No, we’ve just arrived; we don't know anything yet. Let us first learn and understand what is going on—what CINTAA is, what its constitution entails, and what the dos and don'ts are,’” she recalled.

Rather than attending just a handful of meetings, Padmini said she became deeply involved in the day-to-day functioning of the organisation. “It wasn't just three times; we visited the CINTAA office and attended meetings at least 300 times,” she said.

She explained that these were not limited to Executive Committee meetings. According to Padmini, she participated in care meetings, scrutiny meetings, dispute resolution meetings and media-related discussions as well.

The actress also pushed back against claims concerning her role as CINTAAs Media Chairperson. Padmini said she was officially the Media Chairperson and questioned why attention should be focused on whether her own photograph or another EC members photograph appeared in the media.

“We are all actors, so I could certainly claim that role for myself, right? But the fact is, I am the Chairperson,” she said. However, she insisted that the focus should remain on CINTAAs members rather than the office bearers.

“Should we focus on ourselves—on which EC member's photo gets published—or should we think about the members who actually attended the camps?” Padmini asked. She recalled members travelling from places such as Mira Road and Bhayandar to attend CINTAA camps and said their participation deserved greater recognition. “We need to encourage them, not just sit around posting our own photos,” she added.

Padmini also addressed allegations surrounding a CINTAA-related media event connected to Hema Malinis Diamond Jubilee show. She questioned the suggestion that members of the media or invited artistes had somehow been prevented from participating in the event. She pointed out that singers including Suresh Wadkar, Anu Malik and Shabbir had attended the larger celebration because of Hema Malinis show, rather than specifically for CINTAA. Padmini argued that their presence had nothing to do with the CINTAA-related segment. “They had come to give their interviews,” she said. “What connection did they have with CINTAA? Right? They were there because Hema Malini's Diamond Jubilee show was taking place.”

Padmini appeared particularly frustrated by claims that the media had been restricted or that artistes had been deliberately kept away. “Honestly, hearing such petty things feels terrible and... it is embarrassing. It is embarrassing,” she said.

She also rejected allegations that Poonam and her photographs were deliberately given preferential treatment in media coverage. “It has also been alleged that whenever Poonam ji and Padmini go somewhere, our photos are cropped out before being released to the press,” she said. Padmini then posed a pointed question: “Do we really have that much influence over you?” She continued, “If we truly had that much sway over you—over the press—imagine where we would be today.”

Another issue addressed by Padmini was the controversy surrounding the CINTAA treasurer and the signing of cheques. She referred to claims that the treasurer had been asked to sign cheques while he was in hospital. According to Padmini, the treasurers signature is required along with either the presidents or general secretarys signature for a valid transaction. She argued that sending a representative to obtain a signature from someone who is travelling, shooting or otherwise unavailable is not unusual.

She said the incident took place in May and that the cheques were subsequently cancelled by the treasurer after he returned. “He keeps bringing up the events of May—how he signed six cheques then, and how, upon recovering, he cancelled them,” Padmini said.

She questioned why the matter continued to be presented publicly as though the signed cheques remained a potential threat when, according to her account, they had already been cancelled. Padmini then made one of the strongest claims of the press conference, highlighting the financial contributions she said she and Poonam had brought into CINTAA. “Poonam-ji and I are the only two people who have actually brought funds into CINTAA,” she said. “It wasn't just once or twice; we raised crores of rupees.”

She put an exact figure on their fundraising efforts, saying, “Between the two of us, we raised a total of ₹1.70 crore.” Padmini acknowledged that other members also contributed, including Shiva, but maintained that she and Poonam had taken on the bulk of the fundraising effort.

According to Padmini, however, neither she nor Poonam sought public applause for the money they helped raise. “We never sought applause or claimed we had done something extraordinary; we did it for our members,” she said. Her larger argument throughout the press conference was that the leadership's work should be judged by what it has done for CINTAA members rather than by internal disagreements or allegations of personal control.

Padmini's comments add another strong voice to the current CINTAA dispute, with the Senior Vice President directly challenging Upasana Singhs description of the associations leadership as dictatorial. While the controversy continues to revolve around the Executive Committee, resignations, elections and the functioning of the association, Padmini has made it clear that she believes the present leadership has operated through established procedures and collective decision-making.

For now, the CINTAA battle has clearly moved beyond a disagreement behind closed doors. With both sides presenting sharply different accounts of the associations functioning, the coming developments are likely to determine not only the future of the current committee but also the direction of one of the Hindi entertainment industrys most prominent artistes associations.