The Income Tax (IT) department – Investigations Wing has taken actor Joseph Vijay for questioning after searching premises of AGS Group, the producer of his last film Bigil.
According to tax sleuths, the actor was picked up from Neyveli where he is his shooting for his next film Master, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj. A senior Income Tax official told The Hindu that over 20 locations belonging to AGS group were being searched after which the actor was taken for questioning. The taxmen suspect huge tax evasions but did not want to give any further details.
IT officials said that the premises of Madurai-based producer and financier Anbu Chezhiyan was also being searched. “We will be able to provide more details only after the searches are complete,” the official said.
The shooting for the day has been cancelled and is expected to resume tomorrow.
Vijay’s last film Bigil was produced by AGS Entertainment on a budget of ₹180 crores, and Archana Kalpathi was the creative producer. Vijay is being questioned with regards to this issue, and the actor's salary for the project has also reportedly come into debate.
Bigil, directed by Atlee, was a huge hit for the star, and one of his most successful movies till date.
The cast and crew of Master kick-started the project with a formal pooja earlier last year in October.
The star cast consists of big names such as Vijay Sethupathi, Shanthanu Bhagyaraj, Malavika Mohanan, Andrea Jeremiah, web series artiste Brigada and Gouri G Kishan of 96 fame in key roles. Kaithi’s Arjun Das also replaced Malayalam star Antony Varghese of Angamaly Diaries in the project. Tipped to be an action-drama, reports suggest that the movie is likely to hit screens in April 2020.
Produced by XB Film Creators, the film has music by Anirudh Ravichander, who is collaborating with Vijay after Kaththi and the cinematography is by Sathyan Sooryan.