Shine Tom’s arrest leaves his director in lurch

Following the success of the film Ithihasa, its lead actor Shine Tom Chacko was roped in by several newbie Mollywood directors like Jayaraj Vijay and Sajan Kurian for their upcoming films Viswasam Athalle Ellam, Bibilio and Amelia.
Now, the news of the actor being caught for alleged possession and consumption of cocaine in an apartment in Kochi last Sunday has come as a bolt from the blue for these filmmakers.
Jayaraj Vijay, the director of Viswasam Athalle Ellam, the movie which Shine was shooting for during his arrest, says he still cannot believe the news. “Shine has been shooting for my film from December 27 onwards, and to date, I have never seen him smoke even a cigarette on the set. He comes on time and stays back if the shoot gets delayed. He was also someone who was easy to handle, without any starry airs. The fact that he was an assistant director earlier reflected in his behaviour,” says Jayaraj. The director apparently met Shine in the jail. “I asked him what the truth is, and what he told me was that he never knew there would be cocaine in the flat when he went there. He smoked something that was given to him. That itself was a surprise to me as I had never seen him smoke anything,” he says.
Shine has 12 more days of shoot left for Viswasam Athalle Ellam, but Jayaraj is confident the actor will be able to complete it. “I’m sure he will be back; I feel there is something amiss in the accusations. But we don’t know the truth.”
Shine has now been declared the third accused in the case, which also involved a few models and an assistant director. Possession of more than 2 gm of cocaine is a non-bailable offense, liable for imprisonment.
Director Sajan Kurian, who has roped in Shine for two of his upcoming films, was unavailable for comment.