M A Nishad files a complaint against Padmapriya

After Nithya Menen, actress Padmapriya is the latest one who is in trouble for having a manager
Director M A Nishad, who directed Padmapriya in his latest film 'No 66 Madhura Bus', has filed a complaint against her and her manager at the film chamber. The direct insists, ���This plea is against ���manager culture��� in the Malayalam film industry.���
���The producers association has sent out a circular that discourages artistes from depending on managers to deal with people in the industry. Despite that, Padmapriya���s manager Vivek Ramadevan has interfered with our work,��� states Nishad. According to the director, ���Vivek gets 20-25% commission from the artiste for being her manager. My argument is, when we ourselves are struggling, why should we pay this so-called manager who does nothing?���
Of the issue on hand, Nishad says, ���Padmapriya was signed on for my film for a remuneration of `8 lakh. But once we sold satellite rights, her manager stepped in and said she had hiked up her remuneration to `10 lakh. I contacted her to understand what was going on, but she was rude and said that if she was required to act in the film, I need to go through her manager.���
What added to the commotion was that Padmapriya allegedly gave away the allotted dates to the makers of another film ��� 'Cobra'. ���I had to readjust her new dates with those of senior artistes like Pasupathy and Makarand Deshpande. She had signed up to promote the film, which she did not. Instead, she had the time to promote a shady item number, which she was apparently happy to do for free. There are so many issues, but I don���t want to talk about those on print,��� he states.
Nishad, however, feels that all that has happened has to do with the fact that her manager Vivek intervened. ���This is not the first time someone is complaining against Padmapriya. In fact, she was also known to have been slapped by a Tamil film director when he could not deal with her unprofessional behaviour,��� he says.
When contacted, Padmapriya seems quite unperturbed by all the allegations against her. ���The issue seems to have become some sort of national emergency. Though, I feel there���s no point in speaking to the media regarding his. Whatever I have to say, I will explain it to the producers association,��� is all that she says.
Rules in Mollywood "We have received the complaint from M A Nishad. We will address it during our next meeting this week. It is true that the Malayalam film industry does not encourage artistes hiring managers due to the extra expense involved. Managers charge a minimum of 10-15% as commission. And if it���s a newcomer, they even charge 20%. However, if we can directly speak to an artiste, it���s easy to bargain. They understand the industry and its difficulties much better than a manager. Malayalam is a small industry and we can���t afford such extra expenses. But we do understand the artistes who come from other industries. Since Padmapriya is a member of AMMA, she does come under our disciplinary actions" says Milan Jaleel,President, Producers Association.
Kannada film industry "Our industry doesn���t have a problem with the concept of artistes having managers. From what I have experienced, except for two female directors, everybody else is open to it. Nobody has a problem when I ask them to contact my manager. We haven���t come across any such issues in our industry. I think by hiring a manager, half the burden of an artiste is taken off. I feel you become more professional and your relationships become healthier. It definitely makes things simpler," says actress Ramya .
Tamil film industry "I've always had a manager. It works well for me. I like a methodical form of working. It is nice to have someone to speak for you with regards to the nitty-gritties," says actress Trisha.
Telugu film industry "It is a concept borrowed from the west where actors have a publicist, a manager and so on and so forth. It makes our lives a lot easier as we are constantly travelling and working across industries. But at the same time you must be careful about who you appoint as a manager and ensure that he or she doesn���t call all the shots," says actress Deeksha Seth.