Vasantha Kumaran

Cast

Production

The venture was announced in May 2013, when it was reported that Vijay Sethupathi would work in a film produced by Studio 9 Productions and directed by Anand Kumar. It was reported that Lakshmi Menon had been approached to play the lead actress, while Justin Prabhakaran of Pannaiyarum Padminiyum fame was signed on as music composer for the film, which was supposed to start in October.

In March 2014, director Bala joined the project and agreed to co-produce the film under his B Studios. Justin Prabhakaran also replaced Santhosh Narayanan as the composer. Bindu Madhavi was signed as the lead actress in May 2014.

In a turn of events in November 2014, Studio 9 Productions posted a message in social media that they quit the film industry and stated that their ongoing projects would be shelved. The chairman of the company blamed Vijay Sethupathis failure to allot dates for Vasantha Kumaran as the primary reason behind their financial problems and sought legal action against the actor. The actor clarifies that he had informed everything about the issue to the actors’ association and waiting for an official press release jointly from the producer and South Indian Film Artistes’ association.

While issues already in the Film Artistes Union & Producers Council, the production company went to publish a paper advertisement of Vasantha Kumaran featuring Vijay Sethupathi on Nov 13, 2014. After waking up to see an advertisement for a film that he has openly asked not to be a part of, actor Vijay Sethupathi threatened to go to the police and the court, if the producer didnt back down. The actor claims he has walked out of the film and that they cannot publish ads featuring him. He adds that it is highly disappointing to see some paper ads this morning with his picture from the production team and pleaded the fans not to believe the same.

Responding to those allegations in a statement, Vijay Sethupathi said, "When I came to know that the production houses idea was to make money without making the film, I backed out". "The producer had indulged in several activities that were wrong and used a lot of bad language, which is why I decided that I would not act in this film. Over the last year, I have been offering to return the advance of Rs 9 lakh with interest, that I took for the film. But, he has not accepted this and has been asking for crores of rupees in damages." The actor had sought help from the Nadigar Sangam (Film Artistes Union) while the producer had done the rounds at the Tamil Film Producers Council - both groups met for an arbitration, that didnt quite work out. "I even gave a second complaint to the Nadigar Sangam to be freed from this movie so that I could work on my other films," he added.

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