We have seen many scams and shams in Tollywood in the recent times. Casting couch, drugs and other issues had brought bad name to the Telugu movie industry. And we regularly see cheating acts by some filmmakers.
The latest such act is performed by a comedy director who goes by a name that sounds like a Hollywood director’s name.
He shot to fame with a comedy movie that starred a comedian. Buoyed by its success, he announced another movie with the same comedian but he didn’t complete it.
The film was announced nearly three years ago. He took about Rs 75 lakhs from a mega producer who is known for his calculated mind. This mega producer recently is said to have realized that this comedy director has royally “used” him.
It is alleged that the director also took nearly Rs 1 Cr from five different NRIs promising them to be the partners in this film.
Had he invested this borrowed money in the film, no body would have questioned him or talked about. All those who have given him the money have realized that he has used the amount for his personal needs, not for the film.
When the NRI investors have asked about the film’s status, he had promised them that it is still under production and he would part overseas rights to them as it is wrapped up.
With mounting pressure, he recently released a song from the film and made some hungama on social media. The song has turned out to be damp squib.
Realizing his dodging act, the NRIs demanded their money back. However, he gave them post-dated cheque which were eventually not honoured by the banks. Now he is facing cheque-bounce charges.
Sources say that he has started spreading bad reports about the NRI’s to defame the investors and he’s now silently selling off satellite and digital rights of the movie without informing the investors. This has pissed the investors off.
There are also rumors that he also took nearly Rs 20 lakhs from the actress he introduced in his first film as part of investment in this film and she is also fuming over his attitude.
These kind of frauds by some filmmakers are bringing bad name to the industry and NRIs have stopped putting in money in Tollywood.
Hope the industry puts an end to these fraudsters.
