There have been several statements and a lot of buzz as to why director Puri Jagannadh filed a complaint against Kaali Sudheer, Abhishek Nama and Muthyala Raju. The man who filed the complaint himself hasn’t spoken up though and now, in a statement to Times of India, he has made his stance clear.
Giving the backstory, he shared, “Before the release of Loafer, Abhishek and Sudheer came to my office and requested me to sign five movies under their banner. Likewise, Muthyala Ramdas also asked me to do a film for his banner. However, I refrained because I realised that they had a hidden agenda. They wanted to tie up with me only so that they can make me liable for their losses and financial burdens by announcing films with me. My doubts proved to be right. During Loafer’s promotions, Muthyala Ramdas stated to the press: ‘Puri Jagannadh is distributor’s director… if we end up suffering losses, he will take care of us. He is such a nice gentleman…’ Why did he have to say that? Sudheer has now been alleging now that he has nothing to do with Loafer; but fact is that he told me, ‘Puri sir, we bought this film only because of you…We paid Rs 7.5 crore for the Nizam rights…’ Later, I found out from the producer that it wasn’t true. They paid less than half of that sum. So, it is evident that they have been doing all this drama just to blackmail me and make sure that I do more films with them. They are showing manipulated figures and trying to fleece me.”
Reacting to how people are saying that he isn’t considering the position of C Kalyan who has supported him for such a long time, Jagannadh said, “I respect my producer C Kalyan garu. He is the one who hired me and if he is in trouble because of a film I worked on, I will work again and again for him… But why should I do anything for false people, who are only trying to dupe me? …. In fact, I even reduced my remuneration by Rs 1 crore for Loafer because Varun is still a growing star; I didn’t want to put additional burden on the producer. I offered to take a pay cut even before my producer asked to me. That’s the kind of director I am.”
And the director has said he’ll fight back. “Troubling creative people for money does not bode well for the film industry; it’s not leading to a healthy atmosphere for Tollywood. How is it my responsibility if someone lost money? I didn’t ask anyone to buy the film! Heroes and directors are no way connected to losses. If they continue to blackmail me and blame me for their alleged losses, I have no other option but to take support from actors and directors to fight for this issue.”
Well, he does have a point!
