Actor and director Cheran has issued a press release justifying his criticism of Vishal and Karthi, during the candidate introduction meet of the Sarathkumar team in the lead up to the Nadigar Sangam elections. Cheran had said, “Vishal and Karthi should groom their acting skills first and then compete in an election. JK Ritheesh doesn’t even fall under the category of ‘actor’ and he doesn’t have the right to talk about Radha Ravi.”
Now, in his post-election statement, Cheran writes, “When I look back on what I said that day, I feel guilty. Since 1990, I have been closely related to Sarath Kumar. I have watched him help people without hesitation. Also, I don’t have any issues with Nasser, Ponvannan and Karunas. I want to explain why I said what I did about Vishal, Karthi and JK Ritheesh. I had approached both Vishal and Karthi with a script. I narrated the script for two hours. Later I found out from the newspaper that Vishal had moved on to Bala’s film. And despite several attempts, I was not able to narrate my script to Karthi. They don’t have the courtesy to revert back to an appointment.” He added, “I may not be a great director in their eyes, but when they do not respect a fellow director, how will they respect elders in the Sangam?”
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He praised Vishal for taking the initiative when it came to fighting piracy during Karikudi‘s release, but felt the actor was inconsistent in his involvement. “I appreciated Vishal’s bold initiative, but where was he when I was struggling to develop my business C2H? I expected him to call and wish me, as I had done. This is why I was apprehensive about Vishal’s participation in social issues.”
Cheran had also criticised JK Ritheesh because of Ritheesh’s comments about Radha Ravi, a senior actor. Cheran added, “I don’t have a personal grudge against any of them, and if I have hurt their [Vishal, Karthi, and JK Ritheesh] feelings, then I apologise for that.”