Recently, actor Joju George, in an interview, claimed that he was not paid for his performance in Lijo Jose Pellissery's 2021 film, Churuli. Now, the director has responded to Joju's allegations of non-payment of dues for his cameo in the film. Here's what he said.
Lijo Jose on Joju George's non-payment allegations
The Malayalam director issued a statement on his Facebook account, where he denied Joju George's claims over non-payment of his remuneration, and also shared the proof of the payment receipts of Rs 5,90,000 to Joju. He also stated that the film received A certificate by the Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC), and hasn't released in theatres because of the High Court verdict regarding the language used in the movie.
He wrote the post in Malayalam, which is translated as, "To my dear Joju, this clarification is being issued considering the disappointment caused to our producer friends."
The director also said that no one misled Joju throughout the making of the movie, and he was well aware of the language used in Churuli.
"The movie is currently streaming on SonyLiv, but we hope to release this film in theatres one day," he added.
Joju George claimed of unpaid dues for working in Churuli
In an interview with The New Indian Express, when the actor was asked about his working experience in Churuli, Joju said that he acted in the film "spewing expletives after being told that particular version would only be sent for awards." But he claimed it was released in cinemas, and he has been suffering backlash. He also revealed that there is another version of Churuli without expletives.
Further elaborating, the Thug Life actor said that he should have been informed about it and even claimed of not receiving any remuneration for his role.
"I’d been upset about all that and I did convey my reservations to the producers. Nobody called me to enquire about it. Though I live in a place where people are comfortable with using expletives in every other sentence, the movie generated a negative response. I had to weather that," he added.
Churuli, written by S Hareesh, also stars Vinay Forrt, Chemban Vinod Jose, Soubin Shahir and Jaffar Idukki in important roles. The film had a digital release on SonyLiv on November 19, 2021, after it was premiered at the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) in February 2021.
