The actress along with the Paambaatam movie unit was locked up inside a hotel as the producers failed to pay the studio on the outskirts of Mumbai where they shot the film.
Exactly a year ago, Tamil period film Paambaatam was launched with Jeevan of Kaakha Kaakha fame and Mallika Sherawat in lead roles. The shooting of the film started in Chennai and the makers shifted to Mumbai to complete the final schedule.
The producer V Pazhanivel of Vaidhyanathan Film Garden and director VC Vadivudaiyan zeroed in on a studio on the outskirts of Mumbai and also booked a hotel for the entire crew in the vicinity. After shooting for 10 days, the team called it a wrap. The studio had sent the makers a sum of Rs 80 lakh as the bill amount for using their shooting floor. The makers had other plans.
The production unit paid only Rs 48 lakh and was about to leave the hotel to Mumbai airport when the studio owners intercepted them at the hotel and locked the movie team up. While Vadivudaiyan and the cinematographer Enniyan J Harris, managed to escape from the venue, the unit along with Mallika were stuck in the hotel and were subject to verbal taunts by the studio incharges.
While the technicians were clueless on how to handle the situation, Mallika is said to have paid Rs 1.2 lakh from her pocket and was later allowed to leave. When the studio held the unit members responsible, they have apparently said that their remunerations are pending as well. That’s quite a sad scene.
