Joju George insists he was told Lijo Jose Pellissery's Churuli was for film festival, no one reached out to him - 'I suffered the most...'

Joju George triggered a major controversy after he raised allegations against the makers of Lijo Jose Pellissery’s film, Churuli, stating that he was misled about the movie being a festival film and that he did not receive payment. After the Malayalam director put up a Facebook post responding to the actor’s allegations, Joju George has publicly addressed the issue, insisting that he was told the movie was a festival film.

Joju George responds to Lijo Jose Pellissery over Churuli row

Joju George, who featured in the 2021 Malayalam film Churuli, has been hogging headlines after he claimed during an interview with The New Indian Express that he acted in Lijo Jose Pellissery’s film as he was told that the version with swear words would be not released in theatres. After this kicked up a storm, LJP hit back at Joju through a Facebook post, sharing the remuneration paid to him and that the film was released on OTT and not in theatres.

Hours after Lijo Jose posted the note, Joju George publicly addressed the issue during a press meet on June 26, 2025, and reiterated that it was communicated to him that Churuli would be screened at film festivals. But he did admit that he wrongly said theatres instead of OTT, during the interview, though the effect was the same as the larger public got access to it.

"There was a version without expletives and Lijo made me dub for it. That was what was screened at IFFK. But when they were offered more money, they sold the film for OTT," Joju explained during the press meet. He also asked the makers to make the agreement public, just like how they shared the payment details to him. The actor also remarked that no one from the Churuli team has reached out to him or asked him what the issue was.

Explaining that he was just recovering from a bad phase in his life, when Churuli was released, he said, "Churuli was marketed using the swear words I said in the movie." Stating that his own family and daughter faced trolls because of this, he further said that he "suffered the most" because of this. He further said that if he had been told that Churuli was not a festival film, he would not have acted in it.

However, he did not give a clear explanation about the payment details of Rs 5.9 lakh released by Lijo, and reiterated that the producers should first release his agreement with him.

Joju George says he respects Lijo Jose Pellissery

Even when he responded to LJP's Facebook post, Joju George stated that he respects Lijo Jose Pellissery and admires his body of work, and that's what prompted him to say yes to the film. He further said that he liked the role of Thankan chettan, terming it a cult character of his. He repeated that he was never against Churuli or his character.

Also read: Pani: Joju George on why a different director's name would have led to better response