With the split in Nadigar Sangam threatening to leave a bad taste in the Tamil film industry, various film bodies – Tamil Nadu Film Directors’ Association, Tamil Film Producers’ Council, Federation of Film Employees Union and others – on Wednesday released a joint statement appealing to the warring sides, Team Vishal and Team Sarathkumar, to maintain unity in the Nadigar Sangam and not trade insults.
The film bodies had called for a ‘truce’ meeting involving both the sides on October 10, a week before the elections on October 18, to amicably solve the issues related to Nadigar Sangam.
But that did not stop actors Radhikaa Sarathkumar, Bhagyaraj, Silambarasan, Mohan Raman, Urvashi, Poornima Bhagyaraj from coming out in support of Sarathkumar. Though they said that the intention was to press for an amicable solution, Silambarasan accused Team Vishal of breaking the Nadigar Sangam, singling out actor Vishal for all the confusion.
Silambarasan was particularly severe in his criticism of Vishal. “Where was he all these days? Till date, he has not said what is wrong with the agreement signed with SPI Cinemas. Maybe, he thinks he can reach the status of Captain Vijayakant just because he captained the CCL cricket team. He has no credibility or stature to lead the Nadigar Sangam,“ said Silambarasan.
Radhikaa Sarathkumar said trouble started when her company, Radaan Media Works, became involved with the Celebrity Cricket League. “My company held significant shares in CCL because there was a law prohibiting Nadigar Sangam to manage something for profit. The problems started from there,” she said. She criticised the manifesto released by actor Vishal, Nasser and others.
“When I met him at a function, I asked him what he really wants to do. He wasn’t able to come up with a clear answer. His manifesto doesn’t say how they will earn their income,” she said.
Bhagyaraj appealed to both the sides not to precipitate the matter. “Lets us not get too personal. We all have to meet and work with each other in the industry,” he said.
Team Vishal refused to respond to the allegation by firmly stating that there is no scope for a compromise. “Elections will go ahead as planned,” said Vishal.
In a statement released, Team Vishal asked why the film bodies were scared that democratically held elections would break the unity of the Nadigar Sangam.
“All film bodies have elections. In fact, the Tamil Film Producers Council went to court over elections. Despite this, the council is unified. The Nadigar Sangam hasn’t had a real election for the last 10 years. We see no reason why the unity amongst the actors should be destroyed because of elections.”
