Following the rift between actor-producer Vishal and filmmaker Mysskin, which led to the former replacing the latter as director for Thupparivaalan 2 , Vishal has now come forward with a statement clearing the air on what went wrong.
The actor also shared the first look of the upcoming film, posting, " #KaniyanPoonkundran & #Mano back in action again, this time, "Hunting in London."
The Ayogya star’s statement comes in the wake of a letter that was leaked online, purportedly written by Mysskin to Vishal, which lists out, among others, demands such as Rs 5 crore payment for Mysskin to direct the film.
The letter also details various other demands from Mysskin namely, among others, rights to remake the film in Hindi language, transfer of intellectual property rights over the film’s title and character names to the director, a non-exclusivity clause that permits Mysskin to start work on other projects should shooting fail to happen or does not complete within 90 days of the start of second schedule, and an infringement clause which states that in the event of interference to Mysskin’s creative calls or if he or his staff be “insulted, abused threatened, ill-treated or anything that might disturb director’s psychology”, then he would “abandon” the project at that instance of said events occurring.
The letter further carries the disclaimer that disagreement to any of the 15-point demand it states will result in Mysskin “forcing his services” to Vishal Film Factory, the film’s producer, with respect to Thupparivaalan 2.
On Wednesday, Vishal, in a statement, opted to answer in the figurative to the leaked letter.
“What are the reasons for a director to opt out of a film midway?” his note begins, before the actor goes on to express his bewilderment at the turn of events. “I still wonder why does a director, who specifically wanted to write the script in Canada and UK and spent the producer’s money to the tune of close to 35 lakhs for the above expenses including travel, accommodation etc... after having started shoot without proper planning of location hunting, after having spent close to 13 crores... why would a director opt out of a movie midway?”
“Is it because I didn’t have the money to complete the film? No. Is it wrong if a producer pin points the mistakes of a director during production for its betterment especially when close to 15 lakhs per day was spent for a 3 to 4 hours of shoot in UK? No. Is it wrong if a producer requests whether we can shoot 2 scenes a day, or shoot day and night to bring down the cost of the shoot? No,” says Vishal, adding, “I still wonder because it’s as bad as you abandon your own kid in an orphanage.”
Tamil films are primarily funded by private financiers who lend money at exorbitant interest rates, a practice that, at times, has snuffed out lives of people. Vishal makes it a point to draw attention to this in his statement. “Does the director even remotely know the interest incurred and the troubles the producer goes through to make ends meet during the process of film making?” the actor says.
Asserting that the purpose of releasing the statement was because he did not want another producer to “go through such an ordeal”, Vishal, who has assisted actor-filmmaker Arjun Sarja earlier before his own claim to fame as a leading man, adds that since he knew the “nuances of film making”, he decided not to abandon Thupparivaalan 2 and went ahead directing the film himself.
“The sole purpose of the statement is not to tarnish [Mysskin’s] image but it is only to make sure that nobody else falls prey to such people, especially producers. It might be a public outcry but it’s time as the industry bleeds with all its shortcomings, I expect all producers, new and old, to know what a reputed production house like Vishal Film Factory did go through during the shoot of Thupparivaalan 2 ,” the statement adds.
Thupparivaalan 2 stars Vishal and Prasanna, reprising their roles from the first movie, and is Vishal’s debut as director.
