The split in the Tamil Nadu Film Producers Council is wide open. A section of producers including AL Alagappan, JK Sathish, SVe Sekhar and Suresh Kamatchi have come out in the open with several criticisms against President Vishal and have urged him to call for fresh elections.
Speaking to Silverscreen, AL Alagappan said that Vishal manipulated the rules and regulations of the council in order to do a list of allegedly fraudulent activities. Alagappan said that around 300 producers recognised by the TFPC had lost faith in Vishal as President and wanted a fresh round of elections.
“We have a policy at TFPC that we won’t release Kannada films dubbed into Tamil. the Kannada Film Industry has a similar policy. When that has been the case for so long , then how can such a prominent member of the industry who’s also a secretary of Nadigar Sangam and also the President of the TFPC go ahead and buy the dubbed version of a Kannada film like KGF. Who sanctioned this? And why is nobody protesting this?”
This issue is just the latest in a series of offences Alagappan and co. say that Vishal has committed. “People say that he was tough on Tamil Rockers and piracy only because he wanted to win the elections. Where are his promises now? Is piracy gone? I don’t think so. It’s very much there. There are rumours that he is a partner in the Tamil Rockers website.”
Alagappan says that efforts are being made to rally everybody in the council to make an appearance at a general body meeting. “We are forcing Vishal to convene a general body meeting. Our rules stipulate that a general meeting must be held every year and the accounts of the council must be given to every member for review. Once this is done, the documents must be submitted to the court. But this did not happen last year. Vishal and his friends simply walked out of the meeting once we started asking hard questions.”
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Alagappan and some other prominent producers in the industry locked two offices belonging to the Tamil Nadu Film Producers Council. “We will let Vishal and his supporters in only if he answers our questions. If we are taking this extreme step then you know that we have tried everything possible to make him listen. But he refuses to. That’s why we are in this unfortunate position,” Alagappan said.
Vishal’s spokesperson said of this incident: “Certain people who have always played havoc with the ideals of Vishal and his team are behind this. We will use every legal means possible to get to the bottom of this and make sure that justice prevails.”