Pa Ranjith: People who work with me are targeted and denied opportunities

Chennai: Leading Tamil director Pa Ranjith, whose production house is known to make films that espouse the cause of the poor and the downtrodden, on Monday alleged that several technicians and actors working with him were being "circled" and denied opportunities.

Participating in a pre-release event to promote the film 'Writer' directed by one of his assistant directors Franklin Jacob, Pa Ranjith said, "There is this perception that those who work in Pa Ranjith's films will be of a particular mindset and therefore they are denied opportunities.

"In particular, several of my assistant directors say that when they go out and tell their stories to others in the hope of finding opportunities, they are confronted with statements like, 'We believe your director speaks like this. So, will you too make films like him? Will you too speak like this?'

"The same way, people who have acted in my films too have been denied opportunities thinking they are with me. This is the truth. You can even verify it outside. Nobody can deny this. Be it actors or technicians who work with me, they are being identified and 'circled'," the director claimed.

Citing the case of actor Harikrishnan, who has played an important role in 'Writer', to make his point, Pa Ranjith said, "Harikrishnan is a brilliant actor and I like his work very much. Hari has been one of the most affected. We have wondered why he did not get due recognition after playing the character of Johnny in 'Madras'."

Be it the films that he has directed or the ones that he has produced, Pa Ranjith's films have always hit out hard against the caste system.

Stating that when his assistant directors point out to him that they were being denied opportunities, Ranjith said that he would tell them, "Let it be, let us continue to work. When we do work that cannot be denied by anybody, then everybody will come in search of us."