KOCHI: Kochi city police on Wednesday registered a cheating case against certain crew members of the film ‘Abhilasham’, starring Saiju Kurup and Arjun Ashokan, once again bringing disputes over production costs and profit-sharing in the Malayalam film industry to the spotlight.
The case was registered based on a complaint filed by Ann Sariga Antony, one of the producers, for causing a total loss of Rs 4 crore, including direct financial losses. Acting on the complaint, police booked five persons, including an associate director, and a film distribution firm, an officer said.
According to the complaint, the first accused allegedly deceived the complainant by assuring that the production cost of the film would be Rs 2.25 crore, and executed an agreement at her flat on July 14, 2023. The film shoot commenced on October 17, 2023.
However, the accused allegedly caused deliberate and unnecessary delays, resulting in the production cost escalating to Rs 3.25 crore.
Moreover, after the completion of shooting, the hard disks containing the footage were entrusted with the second accused, the film’s colourist, for final post-production work. However, the complainant alleged that the disks were misused and that the fully processed master print was handed over to the first accused without her knowledge or consent.