Choreographer Dinesh accused of misusing ₹35 lakh; he refutes the allegations

Choreographer Dinesh has been accused of misconduct and embezzlement of 35 lakh. The amount, in particular, was reportedly promised for freelance dancers who worked with him in the song Naa Ready from Vijay’s Leo.Dinesh is allegedly said to have been resorting to violence when members of the Cine Dancers and Dance Directors Association (TANTTNNIS) confronted him regarding the non-payment of dues. It is also being reported that Dinesh assaulted a member of the union.What happened?The non-payment issue is said to have come to light when a dancer approached Leo ’s production house and claimed that they weren’t paid, months after the song was shot. The studio clarified that the payment had been routed through the dancers’ union. Shortly after, president of Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI), RK Selvamani stated that the dues had been cleared. Dinesh reportedly hired over 1,000 additional freelancers for the shoot since TANTTNNIS only had 600 registered members. Reportedly, the production company disbursed ₹94.60 lakh to the union dancers, and the freelancers were earmarked a sum of ₹10,500 each, which, they say, hasn’t reached them.Dinesh’s clarification…Addressing the media, Dinesh clarified, “FEFSI and Producers’ Council together fixed an amount to pay those who aren’t part of the dancers union. We gave the (freelance) dancers’ bank account list to producers, who directly credited the amount to their account. I don’t know what went wrong after that.” “ Leo came out in 2023 and, in every (dancers) union election, this has been brought up,” said Dinesh, who holds an official post in the union. Acknowledging that an altercation did indeed happen, Dinesh added, “A Canadian choreographer used to send me voice notes in WhatsApp stating that I’m an unfit president of the union. It affected me because I think I’m fit for this position.” He added that the video of his altercation that’s doing the rounds on social media is sped up and heavily edited.