Actor Sharwanand threatening to proceed legal course against the production house, 14 Reels Plus regarding his payment has become a hot topic in the film industry. At a time when the entire Telugu film industry has halted its operations due to the deadly second wave of coronavirus pandemic, his decision has shocked the producers.
It is true that the producers have given him post-dated checks. However, they had also informed Sharwanand not to deposit them until the pandemic situation comes under control. But he went ahead and deposited them.
Also READ: Sharwanand vs producers: a legal tangle
The controversy is all about ‘Sreekaram’ and the balance payment of remuneration for Sharwanand for this film. The film hit the theaters in March this year. The producers withhold the final part of his remuneration as the film was released in deficit. They wanted to settle the matter after the release.
Sources close to the production house 14 Reels say that they have not faced any hero or director they had worked with him. “The production house settled the balance payments to Nani, Varun Tej, and Harish Shankar after the release. All of them are still maintaining great relations with the production house,” the source said.
Revealing the main problem between these two parties, the source adds: “Sreekaram was to release in April 2020. When they were planning to can the final schedule in Feb 2020, he left for the USA after the flop of ‘Janu’. By the time they resumed the shoot again, the first lockdown was imposed. By December 2020, the producers had paid him 4.5 Crores. When the film finally got released in March 2021, there was no pre-release business for the USA market, or Karnataka region, or Tamilnadu. So, the film was released in deficit.”
The producers reportedly informed him recently that they cannot give him money immediately as the second wave of the corona has tightened the market and they need some more time to settle. But Sharwanand allegedly deposited the post-dated checks against the word of the producers, only to blame them.
Sharwanand feels that they didn’t ‘treat him well’ during the making of the film. On the other hand, the producers paint a different picture. They even arranged a temporary ‘dubbing lab’ in Vizag when he was shooting for ‘Maha Samudram’ and waited for him when he left for the USA after the flop of ‘Jaanu’.
Sharwanand never ran into such controversy before. At the time of the pandemic situation, demanding the money for the balance payment is damaging his image.
