FEFSI President RK Selvamani clarifies about the ‘Leo’ Naa Ready song controversy! – Official statement

The magnum opus ‘Leo’ starring Thalapathy Vijay is all set to hit the screens on October 19. The movie’s first single ‘Naa Ready’ sung by Vijay is a chartbuster all over the country. Recently, there was an issue pertaining to the song when some dancers who worked on the song took to the media to complain that they were not paid by the producers.

It was a hot topic among the news channel yesterday that the Leo makers haven’t paid the dancers properly. Now, the Film Employees’ Federation of South India has broken the silence and clarified that the movie team has paid the dancers properly. The FEFSI president RK Selvamani in his official statement said:

“Today we saw some channels complaining that dancers who worked in the “Leo” movie song were not paid by the production team.

Choreographer Mr Dinesh Master, who worked as the choreographer for the song, said that director Lokesh Kanagaraj wanted to shoot a song with 2,000 dancers in a song sequence of the movie “Leo”. The Tamil Nadu Film, Television Dancers and Choreographers Association (TANTTNNIS) affiliated with the Film Employees’ Federation of South India (FEFSI) had a maximum of 600 dancers. The association, which has a maximum membership of 1000 people, had only 600 dancers as nearly 400 of them were already busy in various films. When more dancers are needed like this, it is customary to film the members of the Dancers’ Association in the front rows and the non-members with some knowledge of dance or good-looking men/women in the back rows. They are called Rich Boys / Rich Girls or Models or Non-Members. They are usually given 3 meals and a stipend of Rs 1,000/- including conveyance.

For the 1,400 non-members in this “Leo” movie, the song shoot was held for 6 days from 06.06.2023 to 11.06.2023 at “Aaditya Sriram” studio in Panaiyur, Chennai. When it was discussed in the Producers Association what wages should be paid to these non-members, it was decided to pay Rs 1,750/- per member per day for 6 days including wages + beta conveyance resulting in a total of Rs 10,500/- per day.

Accordingly, a total of Rs 94,60,500/- was paid to all the members directly into their respective bank accounts. Apart from that, service charge was given separately to the Tamil Nadu Film, Television Dancers and Choreographers Association (TANTTNNIS) as a means of providing recourse and regulating them.

Now, we have seen a few interviewers who want to be paid. This is false news. All members of the Tamil Nadu Film, Television Dancers and Choreographers Association (TANTTNNIS) have their dues paid in full to their association. Similarly, we inform you that non-members have been given Rs 10,500/- each (for a total of 6 days) in their respective bank accounts.

Thanks,
RK Selvamani
(leader).” (sic)