Veteran actor and producer Arun Pandian has slammed leading Tamil film heroes for charging exorbitant fees. While participating in the audio launch event of the film, Aadhaar, Arun Pandian contended that the golden era of Tamil cinema was when filmmakers like director Bharathirajaa made films.
Arun Pandian said, “While delivering his speech here, director Saravanan wrongly referred to the present time as the golden period of Tamil cinema. The golden era was when people like director Bharathirajaa were making films. When we were acting in films, it is not like that now. I can say that with confidence.”
What Pandian said further was even more controversial, as he directly took aim at superstars Vijay and Ajith Kumar.
“Today, the position of Tamil cinema is so bad that all other language films are doing exceptionally well in Tamil Nadu. I am also referring to the recently released films. Be it Vijay’s film or Ajith’s film, they do not spend on the films but on themselves,” Pandian said in his off the cuff remark.
Pandian contended that if heroes themselves took 90 per cent of the budget as their salaries, the overall quality of the film would naturally degrade. He said that during his era, only 10% of the production cost went towards salaries. He was of the view that only by devoting the major portion of the budget towards the film, Tamil films can compete on the pan-India level.
Director Bharathirajaa, who spoke afterwards, did not seem to agree with the Anbirkiniyal actor. It is worth noting that Pandian’s comments come in the backdrop of Tamil films like RRR and KGF: Chapter 2 doing amazingly well across the country.
