Bala says he left 'Arjun Reddy' Tamil remake

Celebrated Tamil filmmaker Bala has said it was he who opted out of the Tamil remake of Telugu blockbuster 'Arjun Reddy' on the basis of “creative freedom” and debunked the producers’ statement that they forced him out.

In a statement that came as a rude shock for many in the Tamil film industry, the makers of 'Varmaa' on Thursday announced that the film will be reshot completely with a new director since they were “unhappy with the final version” of the remake.

As speculation mounted about the issue, Bala released a statement saying that he opted out of the film on Jan. 22 after signing an agreement on the issue. “I have been forced to issue a clarification due to wrong information by the producers of 'Varmaa'. The decision to opt out of the movie was taken by me in the interest of creative freedom,” he said in the statement.

The ace director, known for directing pathbreaking movies like 'Sethu', 'Pithamagan' and 'Nanda', said that he was restraining himself from talking further about the movie taking into consideration Dhruv’s future. Bala also attached the agreement that his B Studios signed with E4 Entertainment on Jan. 22, which says that the director’s name should be completely removed from the project, including in the name card.

“As the final cut of 'Varmaa' was not acceptable to E4 Entertainment and film director, Bala is not agreeable to make any changes. B Studios hereby have no objection for E4 Entertainment to take up the project and further add on scenes or make changes to the now existing version of the film,” said the Jan. 22 agreement signed between the two companies.

The agreement was made after discussions between Bala and E4 Entertainment in the presence of actor Vikram. In the statement on Thursday, E4 Entertainment had said that it decided not to release the version since they were “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.”

'Arjun Reddy' was a runaway success in Telugu and the movie had Vijay Deverakonda and Shalini Pandey in lead roles. The decision by producers is significant since the movie was completely shot and was slated for a Feb. 14 release, which has since been postponed.