Varmaa: Tamil remake of cult Telugu film Arjun Reddy dropped; producers and director Bala at loggerheads

For the first time ever in Tamil cinema, a producer has announced that he is not going to release his finished film because the final version was not satisfactory. What is more shocking here is that the director of the film is Bala, who made National Award winning movies like Pithamagan and Paradesi. Here’s some background: when actor Vikram decided to launch his son Dhruv in Tamil cinema, he preferred to remake Telugu cult classic Arjun Reddy and his good friend Bala, with whom he had worked earlier in films like Sethu and Pithamagan, was chosen as the director of the film. As E4 Entertainment had the remake rights, Bala suggested that his own production house B Studios would deliver the final version of the film.

Breaking: @e4echennai 's E4 Entertainment is unhappy with #Varmaa, the Tamil remake of Arjun Reddy. The shoot is over and the final copy is ready but the producers have taken a bold decision, they ll reshoot the entire film now with a new director. pic.twitter.com/XHvexV55F6

— Rajasekar (@sekartweets) February 7, 2019

Recently, E4 Entertainment’s CEO Mukesh Ratilal Mehta saw the film and was shocked by the quality. The producer felt that Bala has failed to retain the soul of the original version and started asking several questions but the director did not give a satisfactory reply. It is worth mentioning that even before showing the final version of the film, Bala released the trailer and teaser of Varmaa. Shakthi Film Factory, one of the leading distributors, bought the Tamil Nadu theatrical rights of Varmaa based the confidence they had on Bala and the already proven content of Arjun Reddy. But to everyone’s surprise, E4 Entertainment released a statement today saying that they are dropping the final version of Varmaa, the Tamil remake of Arjun Reddy, delivered by Bala. The production house has decided to retain Dhruv and restart the remake with a new director. According to E4 Entertainment, Varmaa will hit the screens only in June 2019 and the list of actors to be associated with the project will be revealed soon. [caption id=“attachment_6047311” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  A working still from Varmaa.[/caption] “E4 Entertainment had engaged B Studios to recreate the Tamil version of Arjun Reddy titled Varmaa, on a first copy basis, on the latter’s insistence. We at E4 Entertainment are not at all happy with the final version handed over to us. Due to various creative and other differences, we have decided not to release this version. Instead, we will start a fresh version of Arjun Reddy with Dhruv as the main lead by staying true to the soul and intention of the original. Official announcements regarding the new cast and crew including director will be made shortly. Despite this unfortunate turn of events which has cost us heavily, our love for wanting to see this cult film in Tamil has not diminished in any way. We will, therefore, work tirelessly as a newly united team towards a June 2019 release,” wrote Mukesh Ratilal Mehta in his latest statement. Reliable sources in the industry say that Vikram is holding talks with Bala and the producer but both of them are stubborn with their decision. Bala is said to be confident with his content and the changes he did to the remake but Mukesh is not at all satisfied with the final version. Bala was chosen by Vikram only because the director would extract the best from his actors and as Arjun Reddy is all about the towering performances, the actor was very confident. But what we hear from the insiders is that except Dhruv, the performance of other actors in Varmaa, is below par. The run time of the film has also been reduced and many important scenes from the original version have not been retained.