The first look of the Tamil film Anbuselvan caused a stir recently after filmmaker-actor Gautham Vasudev Menon, who was credited as the star in the poster, denied any knowledge of the film and said it was ‘shocking’ that it was being shared by ‘big names’ in the industry. However, the producer of the film M Magesh of Seventy MM Studios tells Silverscreen India that Menon is well aware of the project and had even shot for 15 days for the film in 2019.
Menon had expressed surprise on Wednesday when filmmaker Pa Ranjith released the first-look poster of Anbuselvan on Twitter. The poster, which featured Menon holding a gun, mentioned that the film was directed by one A Vinoth Kumar and produced by Magesh.
Upon seeing it, Menon quoted Ranjith’s tweet and denied any knowledge of the film. He also said he had not met the director who was named in the poster. “Producer has got big names to tweet this. It’s shocking & scary that something like this can be done so easily,” he added.
Subsequently, Ranjith deleted his tweet.
When Silverscreen India reached out to producer Magesh, he had a different story to tell. “I reached out to GVM [Menon] in late 2018. After eight months, he gave us dates for the film in 2019. I was the one who got his dates. But he had several personal problems in between and asked me to give him more time. Then, we shot for 15 days in 2019. I wanted to release the first look then, but he requested me not to do so because of his other commitments. Hence, we did not release it then.”
Magesh also reveals that the film was initially titled Vina (meaning ‘Question’) but later changed. However, this was communicated to Menon about a year ago, he affirms.
Another major change made to the project was the replacement of the original director. “I had first roped in another debutant director named Jai, whose associate, Vinoth Kumar, later took over the project,” says the producer, who adds that Jai was replaced in 2019 after he “caused needless delays” in the project and “used the money provided for filming for his own personal use.”
Magesh says Menon knew about the director change, and in fact, alleges that the filmmaker-actor is creating an issue now because of his displeasure over Jai getting replaced. “In 2019, when GVM shot for the film, he worked under Jai’s direction for 12 days, while Vinoth took over for the last three days. Vinoth was actually the co-director since the start, so GVM definitely knows him.”
A crime thriller featuring Menon in the titular cop role, Anbuselvan has a story penned by Elango. Magesh says the film, which features no songs, is 70% complete. Menon still has 15 days of shooting pending for the film and then the dubbing, he adds.
“We have had several clashes regarding dates. He was busy with other commitments, including Joshua and Dhruvanatchitram. Now, he is citing his film with Simbu as a reason for the delay. He has been delaying for two years. I have records of all his conversations.” One of the delays was when Menon changed his look for the film Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal, which did not match the one in Anbuselvan, he adds.
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The producer says has been trying to communicate with Menon since the poster release, but to no avail. The issue has thus been escalated to the Tamil Film Producers’ Council. “They have promised to look into it and the TFPC head Thenandal Murali has said that he will help us finish the project.”
Dinesh Kumar, the executive producer of the film, tells us that the team hopes to complete the project soon with Menon’s cooperation.
Silverscreen India tried to reach Menon but the filmmaker-actor was not available for comment.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, shortly after Anbuselvan‘s first-look release, Menon had tweeted, “And there can be only one #anbuselvan,” tagging actor Suriya, who played a cop named Anbu Selvan in Menon’s hit 2003 directorial Kaakha Kaakha.