Cinematographer-director Rajeev Ravi has weighed in on the issue concerning actor Shane Nigam and said that it should be solved in a mature way. A sudden ban was announced by the Kerala Film Producers' Association (KFPA) on Thursday, and three of his upcoming films - Veyil, Qurbani and Ullasam - have been stopped overnight. The ban came after a tussle between Shane and producers. Shane has also been asked to pay an amount of Rs 7 crore as compensation for the alleged losses incurred by the producers.
“They should consider his age. He is only 22 and such a talented actor. You can’t just put an end to someone’s career like that. But I am also concerned about the directors, who would have spent such a lot of time creating what they did. Their work has been suddenly stopped. The issue should be discussed among all of them and solved,” Rajeev tells TNM.
It is Rajeev who introduced Shane to acting when he was a teenager, through Annayum Rasoolum. It marked both their debuts in a way – Rajeev’s as a filmmaker (although by then he was already an established cinematographer) and Shane’s as an actor.
Rajeev says that Shane is so good an artiste that it would be a travesty to put a halt to his work like this, and adds that the people who love him won’t allow it. “It is such a silly issue that is blown out of proportion. Such issues happen in all film sets, we have all dealt with it," he says.
He is talking about a haircut that Shane got that had initially triggered the row. Veyil producer Joby George allegedly made a death threat against the actor for violating his contract and changing his appearance in the middle of the shoot. The Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) intervened for a truce between the two parties. But problems surfaced again when there were further issues on the sets of Veyil, and Shane got yet another haircut. It was his protest against the people who treated him badly, Shane said in interviews. The ban came after this, and at a press meet, M Renjith, President of KFPA, also alleged that Shane had not turned up on the sets on time, and that his mother Sunila had to be informed in order to bring him. Sunila, however, refuted the claims in media interviews and said that facts were being misrepresented. She alleged that the crew had called her in the morning after Shane had worked till 2.30 am. She also said that for Qurbani, Shane had been willing to shoot despite being unwell but that it was veteran actor Charuhaasan who decided to postpone it.
“It is sad that some media are using the situation to create catchy headlines. I think this should not be overly discussed like this and just left to the director, producer and actor to solve it maturely,” Rajeev says.
It's also illogical that Shane has been asked to pay an amount of Rs 7 crore to compensate the losses of these films, Rajeev says. “How can he pay if he doesn’t work to make the money?” he asks.
And if it so happens that Shane will not get any other work, then he will happily call him as his assistant and do a film with him too, Rajeev adds.