Missing Moonar cast anger Siva Sakthi Pandian

Siva Sakthi Pandian, one of the leading producers of Tamil cinema, attended the audio launch of Moonar and expressed his ire at the absence of the film’s lead actors Ranjith, Rithima, Prem and Ragasiya. He told the gathering that being a producer himself, he understands the difficulty of being a producer and the presence of the cast is necessary for the movie to generate positive trade talk and publicity.

With deep regret, Siva Sakthi Pandian revealed that of the 21 movies released this year, only around four movies have turned out successful for the producers, distributors and theatre owners. The successful films include AVM's Ayan starring Suriya and Sri Thenandal Films' Arundhathi. The loss incurred by the industry due to the failure of the remaining movies has been estimated at nearly 50 crores.

He added that the cine industry is experiencing a crisis in 2009, fading away towards darkness with flops and below-average collections. The daily life of a producer and distributor is becoming worse, since most of them pledge their homes, wives’ jewels and invest in the movie business.

He wished Moonar a grand success and appreciated the producer for having conducted the event with the technical crew without expecting the cast to be present. He said that the times would change and the actors would start realizing the value of a producer in a very short time.

V.C. Guhanathan said that the loss incurred by a producer is mainly due to the large amounts being paid as salary to the technicians such as the director and cinematographers. Pointing out that film reels are being wasted during the shoot by most highly-paid directors, he said that filmmakers must be more responsible and make profitable movies for the industry to grow.

Moonar is inspired by a real life incident which happened a few years ago – a husband was murdered by his wife with the help of her lover. This horrendous crime created a sensation among the public and media. In Moonar, the real life story has been given a twist – the dead husband returns. Music is by Vedham Pudhithu fame Ravi Devendran.