Actors Udaya and RK Suresh have resigned from the post of Executive Committee members of the Tamil Film Producers’ Council (TFPC). The two reportedly resigned because TFPC President Vishal and the Council failed to protect filmmakers, and because there has allegedly been no development in the Council since Vishal took over as president.
In an interview to News J channel, they further alleged that Vishal came to the post saying he would do good for small film producers but that the situation of filmmakers was worse now. The main reason behind this is the issue of film release, they say. When big budget films come up for release, the small budgeted films don’t get enough theatres, they claimed. They said Vishal did not take any steps to fulfil the promises he had made during the Council election. They further said that since he was busy as Nadigar Sangam General Secretary and with his films, he was not turning up for Council meetings. Vice Presidents Prakash Raj and Gautham Menon also did not turn up, they alleged.
Various other allegations have been put forward, including stopping of pension money of Rs 12,500 to producers over 80 years of age and for certain senior executives, and reduction in insurance cover, without the approval of the Executive Committee.
It may be noted that last year, producer KE Gnanavel Raja had stepped down as the TFPC Secretary and noted producers PL Thenappan and Sathya Jyothi Thyagarajan had also stepped down.
After being elected as President, Vishal had announced that an anti-piracy cell would be created to curb piracy. The actor has been working towards this goal right from the day he took over, but notorious piracy group Tamil Rockers have been a big challenge, with the admins of this site remaining anonymous. Recently producers have even asked theatre owners in Tamil Nadu to install CCTV cameras to restrict piracy.
It may be mentioned that prior to winning the Nadigar Sangam election in 2015, Vishal condemned the previous office bearers for not taking any action to solve long-pending remuneration issues of the technicians, to curb piracy or to bring new revenue platforms to the film industry. Following this, he formed a team of youngsters and garnered the support of young producers, actor-turned-producers and director-turned-producers, and won the election.
(Content provided by Digital Native)