Director Jude Anthany Joseph, who had previously levelled serious allegations against actor Antony Varghese, has now revealed that the latter had backed out of the hit movie 'Falimy' just 18 days before taking Rs 10 lakh in advance payment.
The director who helmed '2018', which was nominated as India’s official entry, said he regretted that he had involved Antony Varghese's family in the controversy in the past but said he remained firm about the allegations made against the actor.
"I regret that I made statements involving Antony Varghese’s family when I raised the issue in the past. However, I stick to what I had said against him. I did not name the film then, because I didn’t want the controversy to affect the producer. However, I had told him that I would reveal the movie’s name once the project wrapped up,” he said.
Antony Varghese had denied the allegations then and also said he had returned the money to the producer. Jude, however, claimed Antony decided to pay the money only after being served a legal notice. “There is no justice when you return the money after you are slapped with a legal notice," Jude said. ‘Falimy’ starring Jagadish, Basil Joseph and Manju Pillai, had a good run in theatres and also received positive response from the OTT audience.
