Thiruvananthapuram: Even as the producers denied the allegation of Nigerian actor Samuel Abiola Robinson that he was underpaid due to racial discrimination, the actor came out with an appeal to the Kerala government and film fraternity to help him to receive at least a decent pay for the Malayalam film 'Sudani From Nigeria' where he plays the lead role. However, in the fourth release to the media, the actor slightly retracted his earlier allegation of "racial discrimination" against the producers.
"I am not against Kerala or Kerala people as I love them very much but the purpose of my previous statements was and is to seek the support of the Kerala Government and the Kerala Film Fraternity to help me receive at least a decent pay for my work in 'Sudani From Nigeria'. It is not my intention to defame Kerala or the wonderful people from there but I felt exploited because of my age and before, I thought it was also because of my skin color; I am now realizing that this may not be the case( sic )," he said.
Samuel revealed that he received a meagre one lakh eighty thousand rupees for the film in which he worked for five months between October 2017 and March 2018.
"I was paid a sum total of 1 lakh 80 thousand rupees for 'Sudani From Nigeria', including all allowances given to me for airport expenses. I received a base salary of 1800 USD (about 1 Lakh)," the Nigerian actor posted a response to the reply from Happy Hours, the production company.
Responding to the allegations made by Samuel Abiola Robinson, producers Sameer Thahir and Shyju Khalid in their official clarification said, "Samuel's allegations are prompted by what we consider as his misinterpretation of certain false information provided by some sources."
"We gave Samuel mutually-agreed remuneration," said the producers adding that "we are able to take a decision on sharing the prizes, only after the yields return and the accounts are settled." They also expressed their pain in the allegation of 'racial discrimination.' "It is distressing and a cause of self-contempt for us that racist undertones or interpretations are attributed to this," they said.
However, according to Samuel, he agreed to the amount because, as stated in the contract, he thought it was a very low budget project with very little commercial value.
"I brought up the issue of low pay to the producers when I reached the set for the shoot and saw that it was a financially buoyant movie and was promised verbally that should the movie be successful, I would be paid an amount that would make me very happy before going back to Nigeria. Because of this and the friendship I once had with the producers, I have dedicated my soul and spirit to every aspect this Movie and I simply feel that it is unfair that I was paid what I was paid with no written commitment of more and no move to honour their promises. This is why I went public with this," the actor said.
Comments
0 comment