Chennai: Looks like the Tamil Film Producers Council(TFPC), helmed by the actor/producer Vishal, is in a tricky position. The Tamil Nadu government almost took over the TFPC by appointing N. Sekar, District Registrar (Admin & AIG Cadre), Central Chennai, as its Special Officer to manage the affairs of the council thereafter. A GO from the commercial taxes and registration(MI) department was passed on Saturday to this effect.
Ever since Vishal and his team assumed charge of the Tamil Film Producers Council two years ago, problems have been brewing between them and the section of producers opposing them.
The issue peaked last December when Vishal’s rival producers protested in front of the council building, accusing the latter of mismanagement of funds and running the council for his own gains. They demanded Vishal to step down from his post immediately.
They alleged that that the office bearers had misappropriated Rs 7 crore from the council’s funds and violated the organisation’s bylaws.
They also claimed that since Vishal had taken over as president, no General Body Meeting (GBM) had been convened. Further, they locked the TFPC offices in T. Nagar and Anna Salai, and when Vishal arrived to unlock the offices, he was arrested and detained under ‘preventive custody’ and released later. The disgruntled group later went and met Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami to submit their petition.
However, Vishal convened the Election Commission meeting of the TFPC the next day and announced that showcause notices have been sent to all 30 producers involved in the ruckus.
Yet another issue is that the TFPC elections have not been announced yet, despite the fact that the tenure of the present set of office-bearers came to an end in the first week of April.
Bearing the situation in mind, Vishal has convened the highly anticipated GBM on the premises of a school in Egmore on May 1. Sources said that the appointment of a special officer to the TFPC was announced allegedly to disrupt the GBM. However, it is learnt that Vishal and his team are going to the court on Monday to get a stay on the appointment of a special officer by the government.
