K Rajan, the Tamil film producer and director, raised questions on established actors like Nayanthara and Andrea Jeremiah spending producers’ money to hire assistants.
“Actors like Nayanthara are accompanied by five-six bodyguards. Are they threatened by terrorism or do they need protection from us? Only if you are a rowdy person would you be needing so many bodyguards. I don’t fear telling the truth. I heard that an actor called Andrea [Jeremiah], who cooperates well during filming, has got five assistants. Three of them, who are hairdressers and make up artists, have to come from Bombay. Are there no hairdressers and make up artists in Tamil Nadu?” Rajan said.
He was speaking at the audio launch of the upcoming Tamil film Vetti Pasanga on Sunday. The film is produced by M Chakravarthy and stars Sivabalan, also known as Appukutty.
Rajan said that when actors hire personal staff at exorbitant rates at the expense of producers, it inflates the film’s budget. This additional expense can be avoided by hiring local talent.
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When Silverscreen India reached out to Jeremiah, her manager Aiyappan said, “I don’t think she will be interested in giving a response to this. As far as I know, I don’t think she has worked with him. She will not have anything to say since she does not have any involvement with respect to the audio launch or the person who spoke. If there is a valid or reasonable source this is coming from, she will be open to listen to it and give her comments. In this case, it makes no sense for her to respond to something that someone said.”
Rajan, who has earlier produced films like Brammacharigal (1983), Ninaikaada Naalillai (2001) has also directed films, including Namma Ooru Mariamma (1991), and Unarchigal (2005).
Talking about producers’ difficulties, Rajan said that debut actors should not be paid any remuneration since producers were taking a financial risk by launching them. He added that while an actor is important for a film, producers are seldom respected in the industry.