The Jude Anthany-Antony Varghese spat is grabbing a lot of social media attention. The latest development, after Antony Varghese narrated his side of the story at the press meet, is that the producers have issued a statement defending Jude Anthany now.
According to producer Aravind Kurup and Executive Producer Praveen Kumar, it was Jude who recommended Antony’s name for the film. Initially, it was decided that he should be given an advance of Rs 2 lakhs. But Antony wanted Rs 10 lakhs, citing his sister's wedding as the reason. They spoke about this through a YouTube channel. Jude has also shared the video along with Antony’s contract with the caption, “For those who want to know the truth.”
“I decided to do a film and I was happy to be part of a good team. So we decided to go ahead with the film. There is a reason why we are saying this now. We heard about both of these incidents. But after hearing this, we felt one of them will be an unnecessary scapegoat in this controversy. That’s why we are coming up with this explanation. And we are not going to gain anything out of this. But if I don’t say this, I will be doing Jude a grave injustice.
It was Jude who suggested Antony’s name during the casting. He had good things to say about the actor. And Antony was also satisfied with the story. We even thought this film had the potential to be a box office winner. Initially, we decided to pay him an advance of 2 lakhs. It was after our meeting that the production controller met him. The production controller said he needed Rs 10 lakhs now. That’s why we decided to give him that money. We were also meeting Antony for the first time that day.
The advance was handed over on June 27th, 2019. He knew about the story, and we had given him the printed script during the shoot of ‘Ajagajantharam.’ He had no issues with the story then. And even after weeks, he expressed no displeasure regarding the story.
We shot the casting video during the first week of December. Though he was not easily reachable, he cooperated. And we agreed to start the shoot on December 10. He said after the shoot of Ajagajantharam, he will join the sets. This incident happened on December 10th. We met him at the location of Aanaparambile World Cup.
We finished the rest of our work. The shoot was mostly in North India. We had to rent a train. Keeping Dec 10th as the date of joining, we arranged for travel, lodging, and food. We went to Varanasi and kept everything ready. Our plan was to shoot continuously. We had also booked hotels in Kerala. When Jude called him on Dec 23rd, Antony said he was not interested in doing the film. When the director met him personally and tried to reason with him, he remained firm in his decision.
It was when it was made clear that Antony won’t join the film that we asked him to return the advance payment. And also asked for the 5% that was spent on him. Antony got in touch with us through the controller. It is not true that we parted ways amicably. He hasn’t called me till date. When Antony said he won't return the amount, we agreed. After 6 months, on January 27th, 2020, he returned the 10 lakhs.
Many wondered what the issue was, considering he had returned the money back. It wasn’t just about 10 lakhs; we had to spend a lot of money for 45 days, as we thought he was part of the project. If he gives back 10 lakhs a year after borrowing from you, then he has to be your friend or someone who has some obligation to you.
We feel sad to drag his family into this issue, but we all have families. The film got stalled when Antony ditched the project. Antony is only talking about his issues. We have no anger towards anyone. We stopped production and shut down our company. Family is important for everyone. When you decide, it should be for everyone. We have a precious relationship with Jude. He became emotional for me. I don’t want to cause him any trouble,” said Aravind.
“The reason why he asked for an advance of Rs 10 lakhs was for his sister’s wedding. That’s the truth. We feel sad to know that this has caused hurt to his family. When Antony ditched the project, so many youngsters were out of work. Jude has broken down. We told everyone that the project wouldn't materialize and was mocked by everyone,” said Praveen.
Jude had alleged that Antony took money from him for his sister’s wedding and later ditched the film. The actor responded to the allegation by saying that it caused his family much distress. He said he conducted the wedding a year after he gave back the money to the producer.
