After a group of distributors decided to go on fast in order to get the attention of Rajinikanth for losses incurred on ‘Lingaa’, the South Indian Film Artistes’ Association (SIFAA) said that it was “unfair” to target the Tamil superstar.
“The distributors of ‘Lingaa’ should not hold superstar Rajinikanth responsible for the film’s losses, instead of the producers,” SIFAA said in a statement.
“The success of any film lies in the hands of the audience. Just like every other business, loss and gain is also part of film business. Lingaa was one of the highly anticipated films and was expected to do well. But it’s unfair to approach the hero of the film for losses,” said SIFAA.
Most distributors claimed to have suffered heavy losses since they had paid high prices for the film. Complaining of losses up to 70 per cent on their investment, several distributors and theatre owners have demanded their money back.
Eros International had bought the theatrical rights to ‘Lingaa’ for around Rs 100 crore before selling the distribution rights in Tamil Nadu to Vendhar Films.
‘Lingaa’ released on Rajinikanth’s birthday on December 12 last year and the Hindi version of the movie release on December 26. It also features Sonakshi Sinha.
As per unconfirmed reports, ‘Lingaa’ had the largest opening day box office collections for a South Indian film at Rs 22 crore. The overall collections the movie is estimated to be Rs 149 crore (worldwide) by year-end.