Leading South Indian films producer K. E. Gnanavel Raja of Studio Green production banner recently sat down with Galatta for an exclusive interview to share his views addressing his problems with Tamil filmmaker Ameer and his claims that he wasn't invited to actor Karthi's Japan audio launch held in October at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai. During the interview, Gnanavel Raja explained the onset of the conflict with Ameer, while also sharing how Karthi and his elder brother-actor Suriya's father Sivakumar had advised him to not add fuel to the fire.
Speaking about his problems with Ameer, K. E. Gnanavel Raja said, "It was something that happened 18 years back. The answer to what the problem is, he is the problem. He is a problem for himself. If there's an issue elsewhere, we can give a solution. But, if he's a problem for himself, what solution can we provide? It's been 18 years. He gave an interview a few days back citing a few persons to be wrong. After his statements, I called up Sivakumar sir and asked him, 'Why did he give such an interview? I feel I have to respond because he's spoken about you and everyone else in a wrong manner. You can exclude us, but I feel I have to give a reply to what he spoke about you.' The only thing he said was, 'If you claim yourself to be a good person, or if Ameer claimed that he's a good person, the people are not going to accept it. Each of you has a career and you're going to be in the film industry. So, let time take its own course and after 15-20 years, people will realize who's a good person among both of you. The life you lead should be an answer, but you shouldn't utter a single hurtful word about your director anywhere. On any given day, he's your director and you should not speak a single upsetting word about him to anyone.' This is what he told me. And that is why, despite the complaints he raises with no truth to them, I have not responded to anyone about this in these past 18 years."
Gnanavel Raja then opened up on Ameer's statement about not being invited to the Japan audio launch. He explained, "When the Karthi 25 event (Japan audio launch) took place, Karthi reached out asking for his number so that he could invite him. And, he (Ameer) too knows about this. But, what has he been saying in interviews these days? He stated that he wasn't invited at all. It's not like he wasn't invited. When we called him, he shouted back saying, 'You never called me for anything else, but now this?' So, after a person shouts, how can we go and extend an invitation? To be honest, we don't have any commitments with him. Nobody has the need to speak with him. I'm being brutally honest about this. Even today, he's speaking about Paruthiveeran. If a film has a good performance last week in theatres and doesn't run this week, there won't be any respect. The only question is whether you're a hit this week or not. This is the situation for everyone, including the producers and the artistes. There are so many who are fighting so hard to keep hold of the success. Paruthiveeran came out in 2007 and if we talk about the film now, the people will laugh and walk away. If a hero has a gap of 3-4 years, today's generation will forget him. That hero isn't realizing this. I don't wish to mention his name. It's the same situation for the legends too. If there's a gap, a seven or eight-year-old child will not know who he is. If they give a hit during the current time, they will remain in the minds of the people. He's talking about something that happened 18 years back, and the mistake is on his part, and his conscience knows about it."
Watch producer K. E. Gnanavel Raja's interview below:
