'Simbu bankrupted me during making of AAA,' alleges Kollywood producer Michael Rayappan
Producer Michael Rayappan, who bankrolled director Adhik Ravichandran's Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangadhavan, has levelled serious accusations against the film's lead actor Simbu (Silambarasan Thesingu Rajendar aka STR). Rayappan said Simbu's callous attitude has bankrupted him.
Rayappan addressed reporters at a press meeting in Chennai, where he detailed how Simbu's behaviour had allegedly derailed AAA.
"I have produced nearly 12 films in nine years. Despite facing several setbacks, I have been continuously producing movies since it provides livelihood and employment to at least 500 technicians per year. Never in my wildest dreams did I think Anbanavan Asarathavan Adangathavan would leave me completely bankrupt," Rayappan told the press. "Today, my family and I have lost all our assets, including or home, because of Simbu. Now, I have a pressing need to bring to public attention to Simbu's unprofessional conduct. AAA was not directed by Adhik Ravichandran — it was Simbu who pulled the strings."
Excerpts of Rayappan's quotes follow:
'No heroine in the industry was ready to share the screen with Simbu'
After conducting the puja, we were planning to go on floors from May 2016. No heroine in the industry was ready to share screen space with Simbu. Trisha returned the advance money and backed out of the project. Despite meeting Lakshmi Menon personally in Kochi, she turned down the offer. Lastly, Shriya Saran agreed to do the film.
Simbu in the poster for Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangadhavan
AAA's story moves from Dindigul, Dubai, Chennai and ends in Kasi. Simbu was well aware of the shooting locations before we finalised everything. After the shooting started, Simbu kept changing the locations, stating various silly reasons. He said Madurai would be very hot and asked us to recce Mysore. We did. Then he told us to recce Goa and Kochi. We did that too. Months went by. Finally, we decided to shoot in Dindigul. But he refused to come to the spot, saying there's no five-star hotel there. He said he wouldn't shoot in public places and crowded locations. Then he said he wouldn't shoot on Sundays.
After three months, we finally started shooting in Dindigul on 9 July 2016. It was Simbu who would decide the shooting dates and the call sheet time on each particular day. But he never made it to the time he mentioned. He cancelled a day's shoot because he wanted to watch (Rajinikanth-starrer) Kabali.
'Simbu asked us to terminate Shriya's contract and start afresh.'
While we were about to shoot a song after completing the first schedule, Simbu said Shriya was not working properly and asked us to terminate her contract and start afresh. So the song shoot never happened. Only Simbu knows the reason for why he wouldn't act with Shriya.
For the second schedule, we had to go to Dubai. He said it was scorching hot in Dubai and asked us to change the location to London. After a two-month struggle, he finally agreed to resume the shoot. Then, he said he would like to shed some weight — he was about 90 kg then. But he didn't make any efforts to do so. We then decided to shoot the Ashwin Thatha portions (the third character in our film) with Simbu's same beefed-up look, in Chennai. Since the prosthetic makeup for the role involved three hours of sitting, he refused asked us to use CG. When our executive producer Subbu questioned about the lavish expenses incurred (because of Simbu's stay) in a Chennai hotel, Simbu asked me to fire him. He said he wouldn't come to the shoot if Subbu was not fired. So Subbu was sent home.
'Simbu asked us to change the location to Singapore or Malaysia'
When we were set to begin the third schedule, Simbu asked for three months' time to reduce his weight. We decided to shoot the song sequence at least in Mumbai, but he stalled the shooting after we spent a substantial sum on (building) the set. After we finally convinced him to resume the third schedule, he asked us to change the location from Dubai to Singapore or Malaysia. Then, we decided to 'cheat' Thailand as Singapore. Even before the team went to Thailand, 10 of Simbu's assistants reached there and enjoyed the trip at my expense.
I went to Simbu's home to ask when he's leaving for Thailand. At that time, he said the movie has come out really well and that it should be released in two parts. He also said he wouldn't charge any remuneration for the second part, if I agreed. I tried my best to convince him to resume the third schedule shoot, but it was in vain. I called the entire unit back from Thailand. So Simbu was never willing to shoot for the third character at all... After Adhik pleaded with him to give at least an hour to can some eight shots, Simbu agreed to shoot at his home. Despite this, he would start the shoot only between midnight and 3 am.
'Simbu dubbed his lines in the bathroom'
We hoped Simbu would at least show up for the dubbing and that we'd finish AAA in time for a Ramzan release. Simbu said he wouldn't step out of his home. Instead, he dubbed his lines in the bathroom and sent us the files. We took to the recordings to Four Frames sound engineer Rajakrishnan, but he refused to take up the project since the data was in awful condition. With just five days left for our censor application, we purchased a voice modulation software for Rs 75,000 and corrected Simbu's voice somehow.
We got a call sheet of 30 days from Tamannaah, but we shot for only 13 days. We got Shriya's call sheet for 15 days and shot for just seven days. Everything was wasted. The kind of mental agony I have undergone in the last few months is inexplicable.
[At this point Rayappan presented the press with a break-up of how the shooting progressed, as indicated below]
The total number of shooting days planned: 76
Number of days we shot: 47 + 1
Number of days Simbu came for the shoot: 38 (songs and fight sequences — 13 days; talkie portion — 25 days)
Simbu responds: 'I'm not answerable to anyone'
Simbu has said that he is not answerable to anyone since the movie has already released. "I have not received any written statement from the Tamil Film Producers Council regarding the red card [a notice that means the actor can't work in another film until the issue under consideration is resolved]. I know how to handle it. Rayappan still owes me a huge sum of my salary and I had registered a complaint with the Nadigar Sangam before AAA's release."
