Love Birds director files police complaint against producer for non-payment of dues

About a month ago, when OTTplay had a discussion with director PC Shekar about the problems with his latest, Love Birds, which has Darling Krishna and Milana Nagaraj in the lead, and was a box office failure that made money in non-theatrical sales, the filmmaker had hinted about brewing trouble between him and the producer over non-payment of dues. Love Birds was produced by actor-turned-producer Kaddipudi Chandru.

“Producer Chandru has not paid my remuneration, so I am trying to sort it legally. In fact, he has not paid many technicians who have worked on the film. I referred them for this project and now they are in monetary crisis and asking me to settle their dues. I have been trying my best to get the amounts settled, since Chandru has made good profit with the digital, satellite and audio rights of the film,” Shekar had told us at the time. At the time, though, the filmmaker did not want to go public with this dispute, but now, he has come forward with details.

Read our review: Love Birds review: PC Shekar’s exploration of marriage is a mix of hits and misses 

Shekar has now officially lodged a complaint against Chandru at the Sadashivnagar Police Station, alleging that his remuneration has not been paid in full and that the actor-producer forged his signature on official documents. According to the FIR, Shekar had been contracted by Chandru to write and direct the film, Love Birds, for a sum of Rs 20 lakh. An additional expense of Rs 5 lakh was added to this towards charges for editing the film, making it a total of Rs 25 lakh for the director. Chandru, though, allegedly paid Shekar only Rs 6.5 lakh and not only refrained from making good on the rest, but also threatened to ensure that the filmmaker does not get to work in Kannada cinema again. Shekar also claims that Chandru has forged his signature in documents relating to ownership of the story of the film.