'Vemal and Sargunam are conspiring to defraud me' 

...says financier Singaravelan in a statement about the rights controversy surrounding the Sargunam directorial
'Vemal and Sargunam are conspiring to defraud me' 

The controversy surrounding Vemal's Kalavani 2 refuses to die down. Yesterday, the Chennai High Court took cognisance of the complaint from Singaravelan of Sri Dhanalakshmi Productions and stayed the release of the Sargunam directorial for six weeks. In response, the filmmaker shared a video message on social media denying any knowledge about the said production house, and refuted claims of them having the rights of the sequel to the 2010 film. He further alleged that the reason for such a claim could be their personal vengeance towards actor Vemal, who reprises his role of Arivazhagan from the original. 
 
Meanwhile, Singaravelan put forth his side of the story on social media today, and said that Vemal had taken a Rs 3 crore loan from him for the filming of Mannar Vagaiyara, which was the Kalavani actor's home production. He added that Vemal couldn't finish the shooting with that amount, and threatened him to pay an extra amount of Rs 2 crore, which he refused to give. 

Singaravelan also revealed that, at Vemal's birthday party, on a later date, the actor announced that he was producing two films, one with Vetrivel-director Vasanthamani, and Kalavani 2. Then, in a few days, Vemal is said to have approached Singaravelan and asked him for a particular sum of money for completing the shoot of Mannar Vagaiyara and begin the filming of Kalavani 2. Believing his words, Singaravelan signed an agreement on October 17, 2018, with Vemal about receiving Kalavani 2 on first-copy basis, and gave him a sum of Rs 1 crore.  

The financier then shared that Vemal owes him Rs 4.32 crore now, and the actor promised to return the sum within six months. However, Kalavani 2's trailer was released under the banner of Varmans Productions, and Singaravelan said that his repeated requests to Vemal and Sargunam about honouring the agreement fell on deaf ears. "I sent a letter to Vemal on March 17 stating that I will be approaching the courts if the pending money is not settled before the film goes to censors," said Singaravelan, adding that he sent both the actor and director letters on April 8 explaining his decision to go to the courts. 

"I have the rights for the film, and it is completely false that director Sargunam has it. This film was started with my money, and it seems like Vemal and Sargunam are conspiring to defraud me of my money. However, I believe that the court will give the right decision," said Singaravelan. 

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