Tovino Thomas Vazhakku Film Gets Released Online Without His Knowledge

There is an ongoing tussle between hero Tovino Thomas and Director Sanal Kumar Sasindran over their film 'Vazhakku' (The Quarrel) like their movie's title. After accusing Tovino of meddling with the film’s release over concerns that it would affect his career, Sanal released the movie on Vimeo for free when the actor denied his claims.

It all started when Sanal shared a long note written in Malayalam on his Facebook. In it, he alleged that Tovino was meddling with the film’s release theatrically and on OTT because he didn’t want it to affect his career. He claimed that despite being shot in 2020, with post-production done by 2021, the film still hasn’t been released due to the actor.

Tovino made an Instagram live with Sanal’s cousin and co-producer of Vazhakku, Girish Chandran. In the video, he claimed that he decided to produce the film out of respect for the director’s craft. Tovino also stated that he invested Rs 27 lakh in the film's production without any returns. Tovino also claimed that it was Sanal, not him, who interfered with the film’s release. He said he also proposed participating in the Mumbai Film Festival (MAMI) but the director rejected the idea, fearing that it would be leaked online. 

He also stated that Sanal wasn’t ready to hand over creative rights, which is a standard while selling to OTT. Tovino also stated that due to the stalking case filed against Sanal for allegedly stalking Manju Warrier in 2022 which led to his arrest, not a lot of OTT platforms were willing to get involved. Sanal didn’t just counter Tovino’s claims with another long post on Facebook, he also shocked everyone by uploading Vazhakku to Vimeo and sharing the link for free. Vazhakku enjoyed a successful run at the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK).