Veteran actress Varsha Usgaonkar has alleged that staff members of the Cine & TV Artistes' Association (CINTAA) are operating in collusion with Poonam Dhillon and Padmini Kolhapure, deepening the governance crisis gripping the organisation. Usgaonkar made the allegations during a visit to the CINTAA office in Mumbai on 29 October 2026, claiming staff repeatedly refused to give proper answers when asked about the association's funds.

What Usgaonkar Alleged

Speaking to reporters, Usgaonkar said the loyalty of any organisation's staff must lie with the institution, not with individual members of its executive committee. 'The loyalty of the staff members of any organization should be towards the organization and not towards any member of the executive committee because they are not their personal staff; they are the staff of the organization. It came to our attention that the loyalty of the staff towards the organization was very low, especially the accountant,' she said.

She further alleged that the association's accountant gave evasive responses — including 'I don't know' and 'I was on leave that day' — when questioned about fixed deposits and the flow of funds. 'The FD matter felt like a robbery to me. There is a trust. It is the money of the members. How can anybody touch it without their permission?' Usgaonkar said.

The Dispute at the Heart of the CINTAA Row

The current crisis traces back to several months ago when 11 of the 21 members of CINTAA's Executive Committee resigned, citing what they described as autocratic functioning. The resignations split the body into two factions: one aligned with Padmini Kolhapure and Poonam Dhillon, and the other with Upasna Singh and Sahila Chadha.

Singh's faction had accused Dhillon and Kolhapure of allegedly breaking the association's fixed deposits and transferring funds from a bank account that was supposed to remain frozen during the ongoing management dispute. Dhillon, however, has maintained that CINTAA's financial records are accessible to all executive committee members and denied any wrongdoing.

Court Steps In With Contempt Notice

The dispute has now reached the courts. In a significant legal development, a court has issued a show-cause notice for contempt of court to CINTAA. The court directed the association not to act upon or give effect to the 20 October election results, in which Kolhapure and Dhillon reportedly emerged victorious with the highest number of votes.

The court order effectively puts those election results in legal limbo, raising questions about the current governance structure of the association and who holds legitimate authority over its funds and decisions.

What This Means for CINTAA Members

At the centre of the dispute is the welfare fund and fixed deposits maintained by CINTAA — money that belongs to its broader membership of film and television artists. Critics argue that the opacity around these funds and the alleged staff partisanship undermines the trust that member artists place in the body. Notably, this is not the first time a film industry guild in India has faced internal governance breakdowns, but the involvement of a court contempt notice marks a sharp escalation.

With the contempt notice now in play and elections under judicial scrutiny, the next few weeks will be critical in determining whether CINTAA can restore institutional credibility — or whether the dispute deepens further into litigation.