Rockline Venkatesh calls distributors’ fast a "publicity stunt"

Rajinikanth’s Lingaa failed to impress audiences as expected and the distributors are now seeking compensation for the film’s poor performance at the box-office. In the midst of protests, producer Rockline Venkatesh announced that if "proven guilty of cheating the distributors, I'm ready to accept their demands." He further called the fast a "publicity stunt" aimed at "tarnishing the image of Rajinikanth".

"Some distributors said the film was released during the wrong time of the year. But we had announced the release date on the first day of the shooting. If they had any problems with the release date, they should've requested us to change it in the first place," he said.

Venkatesh further retorted, "How many of you believe that the first day shows of a Rajinikanth film will ever be empty. They have ruined the prospects of the film with these baseless statements."

Meanwhile distributor R. Singaravadivelan, who bought the rights of Lingaa for Trichy and Thanjavur area, said, "We suffered losses of over Rs.35 crore, distributing Lingaa across Tamil Nadu. Our efforts to get compensation from the producer have failed. Hence, we are observing the fast to draw the attention of Rajini and persuade him to talk to the producer and help us to overcome the losses."