In what could be considered as a boldest decision taken by a production house in Kollywood, director Bala has been fired from Varma, the Tamil remake of Arjun Reddy and another director will take over his place.
E4 Entertainment formally announced the news on Thursday evening, 7 January, that the production house has decided not to release the movie after watching the first copy. The entire movie will be shot again.
"We at E4 Entertainment are not at all happy with the final version handed over to us and due to various creative and other differences, we have decided not to release this version. Instead we will start afresh, and shoot a new Tamil version of "Arjun Reddy" with Dhruv as the main lead by staying true to the soul and intention of the original," a press release from the production house read.
The makers have announced that the new cast and crew will be announced shortly. "Despite this unfortunate turn of events which has cost us heavily, our love for wanting to see this cult film in Tamil has not diminished in any way. We will therefore work tirelessly as a new united team towards a June 2019 release," it added.
The shocking part of the story is that Megha Chowdhury, the female lead in the movie, is clueless about the development. "I'm completely unaware of this. Today is my birthday (February 7), and this information is news to me. I will talk to the concerned people soon," she is quoted as saying by Behindwoods.
Arjun Reddy is a Telugu blockbuster movie, written and directed by Sandeep Vanga. Vijay Deverakonda and Shalini Pandey played the leads.
Ironically, Dhruv and other team members had praised Bala's work during the making of Varma and this decision has come as a shock to the Tamil cine-goers. Although there is no official information on what went wrong between the production house and the director, rumours say that the filmmaker wanted to change the climax and there were other creative differences which the duo could not agree upon.
Hence, the producer took the call to scrap whatever he has shot. Notably, two decades ago, his debut movie Sethu with Dhruv's father Vikram had hit the screens after much struggle. However, the fans are seeing this as an insult to Bala, who has made many award-winning movies in his two decade career.
They have expressed their unhappiness on Twitter and viewers can find select-few comment below:
ReviewPuram: I was really looking forward to Bala's interpretation of Arjun Reddy. That story had a lot of potential for his kind of darkness. With a filmmaker of his kind, one having a very specific aesthetic, the producers shouldn't have expected a mere "recreation" of the original. #Varmaa
Irshad: Shocking news
Can't blame director #Bala blindly...
Producer @e4echennai is not that good guy...
Feeling sad for #DhruvVikram...
#Varmaa
sathishkumar_24: You have insulted the legendary filmmaker Bala for this so called cult stupid #ArjunReddy remake..!!
I believe movie would be great the way Dhruv performed and director Bala making.
Just release Varmaa.
mimi: Hundred percent agree...no words for Bala directions...and dhurv also said that he is giving me a new lease of life, just like he did with my dad in Sethu...#Varmaa
Viper Offl: #Bala #Varmaa to be frank its a great insult for cult director #Bala ..instead @itisprashanth saying it has history.... Kaala kodumai
aaditya: WTF !! Probably the most weird decision ever taken by a producer in the history of Indian cinema....Producers of #Varmaa i.e. Tamil remake of #ArjunReddy to be fully re-shot again....surprising...considering that national award winner #Bala had directed it
