Vazhakku removed from streaming, irked Sanal Kumar Sasidharan makes more allegations against Tovino Thomas

The latest Malayalam movie, "Vazhakku," has been removed from Vimeo, just hours after its director, Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, made it available for free streaming. Following this, Sanal posted a lengthy statement expressing his frustration and making further allegations against Malayalam star Tovino Thomas.

He claimed that stopping the streaming of "Vazhakku" proved his suspicion of Tovino's intention to prevent the film from reaching a larger audience. He confirmed that the film was removed from Vimeo due to complaints of copyright infringement raised by Parrot Mount Pictures. While Sanal wrote and directed the movie, Tovino co-produced it along with producer Gireesh Nair.

Sanal revealed his frustration as the film didn't get a release, both theatrical and digital, even three years after its completion. He cited this reason and the alleged lack of interest from Tovino and the producer in making the film accessible to the wider public as his rationale for releasing the movie online for free.

Sanal also listed six allegations against Tovino and Gireesh Nair, describing their earlier explanations as "full of lies."

He made a fresh allegation against Tovino, accusing him of intentionally sabotaging the film's public release due to his alleged insecurities. He recalled a phone conversation he had with Tovino, during which Tovino repeatedly asked for his opinion about his performance in "Vazhakku" after watching a preview. Sanal claimed he told Tovino that his acting was very good. However, Tovino seemingly still had doubts and allegedly wondered whether Sudev Nair outshone his performance in the movie.

Sanal alleged that Tovino was preventing the release of "Vazhakku" because he believed Sudev Nair's acting was better than his own.

Earlier, Tovino released a video explaining his side of the story about the ongoing public spat with Sanal. He noted that he was unable to secure a streaming deal for "Vazhakku" because Sanal was not ready to give up the creative rights on the terms set by the streaming platforms.