SHANE NIGAM CONTROVERSY: TWO FILMS SHELVED, PRODUCERS WON’T COOPERATE WITH ACTOR UNLESS HE ‘COMPENSATE’

The Producers Association — an influential decision making body in Malayalam Cinema, took the above decision after Joby George and Maha Subair, the producers of 'Veyil' and 'Qurbani' respectively, raised complaints against the actor who did not cooperate with the shooting of these movies.

After a discussion this afternoon, Kerala Producers Association President M Renjith, during a press conference, said that “Producers of Veyil and Qurbani have decided to shelve their movies. We have also decided not to cooperate with Shane until he compensates the loss of around 7 crores for the two movies”.

This stern action comes after the young actor had revolted with the crew of ‘Veyil’ movie and cut his hair and beard - a different look from his character in the movie. The actor’s character has long hair and beard in the movie. The actor had also reportedly didn’t cooperate with ‘Qurbani’ movie as he never reached the location of the movie on time.

A tiff between Veyil producer and Shane was sorted out during early November, but even after that the actor, reportedly, had left the location while the shooting was still on, and without informing the crew.

The actor is also alleged to have asked for more remuneration with the makers of the movie ‘Ullasam’. Speaking about ‘Ullasam’ controversy, Ranjith said that initially the actor had agreed to act with a remuneration of Rs. 25 lakhs, but later he demanded Rs 40 lakhs, causing financial problems for the producer. He also alleged that the actor was very irregular in timings for shooting. With all these sufferings because of Shane, the producers could not keep silent for long and had to take a decision.

The producers association also said that some of the new actors of this generation are under the influence of drugs and because of this all problems crop up. Since these young actors are not members of A.M.M.A, we can’t complain about them also. “We will check about drugs in all our sets. Yes, there is need for 100 percent checking in the sets (for drugs usage),” said Ranjith. He also informed the press that he had conveyed A.M.M.A about their decision on actor Shane.