India, Dec. 27 -- Actor Puja Banerjee and her husband, actor Kunal Verma, recently found themselves at the centre of a major controversy. The duo were previously accused by Bengali film producer Shyam Sundar Dey of kidnapping and extorting money - allegations that led to an FIR being filed against them and sparked widespread media outrage. As the controversy unfolded, public perception quickly turned against the couple, with sections of the media painting them as criminals even before the facts were fully out. However, Pooja and Kunal later revealed that it was, in fact, they who were allegedly scammed financially by the producer, losing a substantial amount of money in the process. Reflecting on being subjected to a media trial, Puja told Free Press Journal, "It's the sad part of our industry. I won't blame the media completely because jo dikhta hai woh bikta hai. If you tell people, 'Good morning, today's good news is that everything is fine,' then people will stop reading the newspaper. Until and unless you don't show them something controversial or negative, they won't pick up the newspaper. So then how can we call media wrong? But yes, some people definitely have been extremely insensitive." She added, "They don't even think that the person they're talking ill about is somebody's mum, somebody's wife and somebody's daughter. We also have families and unfortunately, they get the most affected in all this. They should think about our families. We are public figures, so we will manage all this, but what about our families? It's very sad that we had to go through this phase." She concluded, "My low phase has taught me who my close ones are. There are so many friends of mine who became my friends after I became an actor, and so many who have been my friends since childhood. With time, I've realised who my own people and true friends are. Only my close friends have really stood by me during this tough time." htc...