2018 director Jude Anthany Joseph says ‘ungrateful’ actor Antony Varghese left film after taking money: ‘I cried over it’

'Antony Varghese took an advance of Rs 10 lakh from producer Arvind for his sister’s wedding and then, 18 days before the commencement of the film, opted out of the project,' Jude Anthany Joseph said.

By: Entertainment Desk

Kochi | May 9, 2023 01:08 PM IST

3 min read

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Malayalam director Jude Anthany Joseph and actor Antony Varghese, who made his debut in Lijo Jose Pellissery's 2017 film Angamaly Diaries. (Images: Facebook/Jude Anthany Joseph, Antony Varghese)

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While his recently released film 2018 – Everyone Is A Hero is emerging as a blockbuster hit, Malayalam director Jude Anthany Joseph has opened up about an instance wherein actor Antony Varghese, who made his debut in Lijo Jose Pellissery’s 2017 film Angamaly Diaries, backed out of a project Jude was supposed to bankroll, 18 days before the commencement of shooting.

Speaking to Movie World Media, Jude said: “It is not right to forget the way you came from and be ungrateful. People like Shane Nigam and Srinath Bhasi have been accused of consuming ganja and being addicted to drugs. I, however, would say the biggest problem is not drugs, but the lack of humanity, and the audacity to show filth. There is someone in the industry named Antony Varghese. Everyone thinks he is a very good person. There was a film I was supposed to produce. It was directed by one of my associates. Varghese took an advance of Rs 10 lakh from the film’s co-producer and my friend Arvind for his sister’s wedding and then, 18 days before the commencement of the film, he opted out.”

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“It hurt me and Arvind a lot. We have cried over this. The problem is that people like this are there in the industry. He started working on another project titled Aaravam, which was supposed to be helmed by debutant Nahas Hidayath (who is currently directing the upcoming Malayalam movie RDX starring Varghese, Shane Nigam, and Neeraj Madhav), after opting out of our film. But that movie got shelved. I believe it happened due to a curse. Varghese returned the money to Arvind much later. Many such unqualified people are there in the industry. Varghese is such an unqualified person. If Pellissery hadn’t brought him to the industry, there wouldn’t have been any need to tolerate people like Varghese,” an emotional Jude added.

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Announced in 2019, the shooting for the said movie that Varghese dropped out of has been completed. Nithish Sahadev, a former associate of Jude Anthany Joseph, is making his directorial debut with this movie titled Falimy starring Basil Joseph, Jagadish, Manju Pillai, Meenaraj and Sandeep Pradeep among others. The movie is bankrolled by Lakshmi Warrier, Ganesh Menon and Amal Paulson who previously created hit films such as Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey (2022) and Jan.E.Man (2021).

Jude Anthany Joseph’s 2018 is continuing its successful run following an amazing weekend. According to film trade analysts and industry trackers, 2018 raked in Rs 4.01 crore on Sunday and thus took the movie’s total collection to Rs 9.17 crore within three days. It is reported that the film is receiving a warm response in Tamil Nadu as well.

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