Chennai: Tamil fantasy drama “Puli” marks the comeback film of actress Sridevi in Kollywood. Recently, the actress filed a complaint against the movie makers stating that the producers are yet to pay Rs 50 lakh for the film.
On the other hand, producers P.T Selvakumar and Thameens have a different story to tell. Extremely disturbed over the allegations, the makers issued a four-page long statement claiming that they don’t owe a single penny. The statement said that the filmmakers signed Sridevi out of respect and agreed to pay Rs 2.7 crore as her remuneration excluding Rs 30 lakhs service tax.
During the final stages of production, Sridevi’s husband Boney Kapoor demanded extra money as the makers are planning to release the film in Hindi and Telugu releases too, according to producers. After discussions, the producers decided to pay 20 percent of the film’s Hindi satellite rights, which was Rs.55 lakh, and Rs.15 lakh for the dubbed Telugu version.
It is also heard that the actress was persistent to get Manish Malhotra on board, even after hiring three designers for costumes and the makers spent Rs 8 lakhs she wanted a separate marketing designer for the Bollywood release. But still, Sridevi refused to attend the audio launch.
The statement also said that the director was supposed to complete the shoot in 100 days but it was extended to 150 days. The makers faced loss as the project got delayed and they had to pay Rs 4.5 crore as the film was not granted a tax exemption.
