Gaurav Menon, the child actor who played the lead role in Kolumittai, has alleged that the director and the producer of the movie have not paid him yet. Kolumittai had won the State Award for the Best Children’s Movie for 2016. The movie was directed by Arun Viswom, a civil police officer, and produced by Abhijeet Ashokan, under the banner of Crayon Pictures.
Gaurav said that though the initial contract specified that he won’t be paid for the movie, the makers had promised that he would be compensated once Kolumittai hits the screens.
“When I approached them for the payment post its release, I was promised that the remuneration would be given once the satellite amount was fixed.
However, even after that I wasn’t paid. Such exploitation is happening in the industry and it should be stopped,” he said. The child artist said that though he registered a police complaint against the makers, no action was taken for the lack of necessary proof.
When contacted, director Arun Viswom said a contract was signed between the producer and Gaurav’s father which stipulated that there wont be payment for the movie. “We made the movie out of passion. We couldnt afford to pay anyone.
All the artist who did the movie did it out of passion and not for monetary gains because they knew we didn’t have the funds. We are already neck deep in debt and there is no way I can pay him. That is one reason why we decided to enter into a contract with the actor in the first place,” he said.
The director said the producer, however, had paid over Rs 25,000 as travel and other expenses to the actor.