Actor Thandav Ram arrested after opening fire during discussion on movie production

BENGALURU: Actor Thandav Ram, also known as Thandaveshwar, was arrested and booked for murder attempt after he opened fire from his double barrel gun during discussion with a movie director on Monday evening. Luckily, no one was hurt in the incident.

Thandav Ram had starred in ‘Mugilpete’ which was directed by Bharat. On Monday evening, Thandav Ram, Bharat and a producer, Kumaraswamy, were having a discussion in an office in Chandra Layout on the delay in the shoot of the movie ‘Devanampriya’ when the actor opened fired. The bullet hit the ceiling of the office.

With no producers coming forward, the shooting of ‘Devanampriya’ had been stalled over the last two years and Thandav Ram had himself invested Rs 6 lakh in parts. Recently, one Kumaraswamy of Hassan had come forward to produce the movie, but director Bharat had not resumed shooting. It is said that Thandav Ram asked Bharat to return his Rs 6 lakh when the shooting occurred.

Police Commissioner B Dayananda said on Tuesday, “The accused has been arrested and the licenced double barrel breach loading gun has also been seized. There was some differences of opinion regarding production of a movie, which prompted the intentional firing, as per our preliminary investigation”.

After informing the film chamber and lodging a complaint with the Chandra Layout police, director Bharat said, “During the discussion, Thandav Ram, who is handling the production himself, abused me in sent his assistant to fetch his gun from his car. He then pointed the gun at my forehead and just before he pulled the trigger, the movie editor Mallikarjun pushed the gun away and the bullet hit the roof. Luckily, my life was saved”.