Lingaa distributors to observe hunger strike; Nadigar Sangam supports Rajinikanth

The distributors of Lingaa will go on a day-long hunger strike tomorrow at Valluvar Kottam to protest against the massive losses incurred. Singaravelan, who distributed the film in Trichy and Tanjore, told Lingaa was made on a budget of only Rs. 45 crores excluding Rajinikanth’s remuneration but sold for Rs. 220 crores at a press meet yesterday. He also revealed that the film was sold at a rate higher than Endhiran and a substantial number of theatre owners in the state have suffered losses. Now, the Chennai police have granted permission for the protest after distributors filed a petition in the court.

Meanwhile, Nadigar Sangam has issued a joint statement supporting Rajinikanth in the tussle. “Profit and loss are part of a business. Taking the profits whole heartedly and requesting actors to refund losses whenever the film fails to click is a bad precedence and should be stopped. This issue should be dealt with the producers. Or they can request the producers to offer a slash in price for their next film to compensate for the losses. Hence, it’s certainly not right to approach an actor who has put in all his hard work to complete the film. They need to contact the producers for a solution,” told a joint statement from Nadigar Sangam president Sarath Kumar, Secretary Radharavi and Treasurer Vaagai Chandrasekhar.