Director Lingusamy, who hitherto was very silent on the Nayantara's ouster from his directorial Paiya, has opened up.

Paiya, to be produced and directed Lingusamy, features Karthi in the lead role. Nayantara was initially assigned to do the female lead in the movie for a whopping sum of over Rs one crore. However, after economic recession and a slew of flops for Nayantara, Lingusamy decided to rework her remuneration, which she resisted. Eventually, she backed out of the project.

Lingusamy has now opened his heart out on her decision. He says, 'Nayantara is one of my favorite actresses. I admire her a lot. In spite of making her debut opposite senior stars like Sarath Kumar and Rajinikanth, she became the most sought after actress by enacting with the likes of young heroes like Dhanush and Simbhu.

'I loved her acting in 'Yaradi Ne Mohini'. We agreed to cast her in 'Paiya', but due to various reasons, we requested her to reduce her remuneration. She rejected and there was no proper communication from her. So, we were forced to rope in Tamanna in Nayanthara's place'.

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