Jinn director Bala opens up on star actor snub; SJ Suryah’s name dragged

CHENNAI: The audio and trailer launch of Mugen Rao’s Jinn took place in the city recently. Speaking at the event, the director of the film TR Bala said that before finalising Mugen Rao, he had pitched the script of Jinn to a star actor. “He listened to the script and even told me I would be one among the top five new-gen directors in Tamil cinema. The actor also said that it would require six rounds of discussions before finalising the script.”

Bala later added that it took two years for six rounds of discussions. “When I went to meet the actor with a producer at a hotel, the actor asked who I am and what am I here for. I told him about the story discussions over the years, and reluctantly asked for a narration. When I narrated the entire script again, he taunted me saying I wouldn’t make it as a director and this script is not worth working on. The then producer too said that he wouldn’t be interested in producing if that specific actor isn’t playing the lead,” he added.

This speech went viral on the internet on Friday and netizens started speculating names of various actors. However, a popular movie YouTube channel upon cross verifications, revealed that it was SJ Suryah, who Bala had mentioned about. While we contacted the actor, he was unavailable for a comment. A few netizens expressed shock and spoke in support of SJ Suryah, who is known for his humility and soft-spoken nature in public events.