On Thursday evening, the city police arrested Sivaprasad Velayudhan, the owner of a local studio, for allegedly cheating actor and director R Parthiban of Rs 42 lakh. The complaint, filed by Parthiban, claims that Sivaprasad’s Realworks Studio was hired to handle the visual effects (VFX) work for Parthiban’s upcoming movie “Teenz.” The total cost of the project was Rs 68.54 lakh, with Parthiban making an advance payment of Rs 42 lakh on October 23, 2023.
Parthiban said in his complaint that Sivaprasad promised to complete the VFX work by February 20, 2024. However, when the deadline passed without the work being finished, Sivaprasad asked for more time, claiming the work would be completed by April 19, 2024. Additionally, he requested an extra Rs 19.84 lakh to complete the VFX work.
After Parthiban accused Sivaprasad of cheating him out of the Rs 42 lakh advance, the Race Course police registered a case of criminal breach of trust and cheating. The studio owner was subsequently arrested.
In a video released on Friday, Sivaprasad defended his studio’s work on several high-profile films such as “Leo,” “Master,” “Vikram,” “Managaram,” and “Pichaikaran-2.” He explained that the studio had been overwhelmed with work, leading to delays in the “Teenz” VFX project. Sivaprasad also stated that a portion of the VFX work had been outsourced for Rs 32 lakh, and that his team had not received salaries for the past three months. Moreover, he revealed that a civil court petition had been filed against Parthiban in Chennai, with the petition set for a hearing on July 9.
