This weeks top news unfortunately is a tragedy for producer Ashok Kumar's young wife and children especially.  For others it has become a highly debateable issue which seems to threaten the very stability of Tamil cinema.  Ashok Kumar's suicide letter had alleged that financier Anbu Chezhiyan who had loaned his company a huge amount had dealt with him harshly which broke his heart and induced him to take the extreme step.  Many in the film fraternity a majority of whom were not producers themselves bayed for the Anbu's blood while his clients comprising of the top producers of Tamil cinema have come out in support of him.

The situation calls for an indepth analysis of what goes wrong in a film's production that leads a producer to forego his family and take his own life.  Anbu Chezhiyan is said to charge only half the rate of interest that traditional financiers charge which must be seen as a great boon to a cash starved industry like Tamil cinema.  Then how come producers fall prey to his alleged machinations of losing their wealth to him.

Firstly, most producers have little or sometimes no knowledge of whether a script will work or not.  They jump into a project because they have a hit hero and heroine or hit director on board.  They also take into consideration the collection of the hero's hit film and presume that their film too will collect the same irrespective of the genre and other criteria.  The reality of the market is harsh and while the hits are rewarded handsomely the digital age kills the average films chances of recouping and the producers end up with not being able to release their films or suffer heavy losses.

The above said reality is the primary reason most producers lose their hard earned or borrowed money putting their lives in great geopardy.  As some experts in the industry suggest it is best for producers to have or acquire indepth knowledge of scripts, production, marketing and distribution to safely reach atleast the break even point.  Till the changes come within producers are at the mercy of the stars, the directors and above all the financiers and it is only upto them to safeguard themselves.