Shalini Pandey made an impressive debut with the Telugu cult hit 'Arjun Reddy' and became the most sought after young leading lady in South cinema.  However the two Tamil films, 'Gorilla' and '100 % Kadhal' that she did turned out to be box office duds.  Shalini signed on to play the female lead in the Vijay Antony - Arun Vijay starrer 'Agni Siragugal' directed by Moodar Koodam Naveen.

It is alleged that Shalini Pandey after shooting for 27 days suddenly quit 'Agni Siragugal' and refused to take any further part in the project.  After several attempts to convince the actress, producer Amma Creations T. Siva has reportedly lodged a criminal complaint against her and also took the issue to the Tamil and Telugu Film producers councils.  It is said that Shalini however has stated that she is not interested in doing South films as she has bagged roles in Hindi movies opposite Ranveer Singh.

It remains to be seen what action is taken and Shalini Pandey but meanwhile Akshara Haasan has replaced her in 'Agni Siragugal' and the shooting is continuing in foreign locations.It must be noted that Akshara Haasan was the first choice to play the character, before Shalini Pandey entered the cast, and now as per the original plan Akshara Haasan is back in the cast.