Ravi Shastri Audio released

The audio of Ravichandran-Sneha starrer "Ravi Shastri" released in a function amid fan fare despite the absence of lead artists. The movie is directed by M.S.Rajashekhar and produced by Sandesh Nagaraj. Former Test Cricketer Ravi Shastri should have released the audio and CD album as per the original plan, but he did not attend the function, the reason being that he was not paid the Rs.5 lakh for his appearance as demanded.

Finally the audio was released by a steward of "Atria Hotel" and the grand daughter of producer Sandesh Nagaraj. 'Lahari Audio Company' which is now entering the Kannada film industry in a big way is marketing this audio. Lahari was purchasing the audio rights of small and medium budget films till now, but from now on they have promised to lay their hands on big star cast films.

Mr. Sandesh Nagaraj and Mr. Velu of Lahari had planned that getting the audio released by cricketer Ravi Shastri would get some vital publicity for the audio and had established contact with the cricketer through a mutual friend in Mumbai.

But they had not imagined that the ex-cricketer would raise such demands for a simple presence in the function. "We had agreed to pay to and from air charges plus five star accommodations for Ravi Shastri. We had thought since our film had the title of the well known cricketer, he would be happy to come to the function and release the audio. But he demanded a sum of Rs.5 lakhs. We had established contacts with Ravi Shastri through a mutual friend from Mumbai. We thought this additional expenditure would be too expensive for a Kannada film" said Velu.

Incidentally down south, Velu says many leading super stars of the film industry will agree to participate in any film related functions including the audio release function without demanding anything. "Many a times they will make their own arrangements for coming to the function" said Velu. Incidentally, Ravi Shastri has also acted in films. In one of his films "Stumped" he played his own real life character.