Following Southern heroine Nazriya Nazim’s complaint against him of using a dupe for a sensuous shot in Dhanush starrer Naiyyandi, director Sarkunam has now issued a statement stating that it was the actress herself who suggested that he use another person for the shot.

“When editing the song, I found that I needed a close-up to get the content of a scene across to the audience. I asked Nazriya to come and shoot for that close-up shot but she said, ‘I cannot come from Kerala to shoot this. You can shoot it with someone else’,” he said and added, “However, I do not know why she has a problem now with it. Maybe, she is doing this for publicity.”

Sarkunam also said that if Nazriya is offended by the shot that appears in the trailer, he is ready to remove it, and challenged the actress to watch the film with media persons and claim that she hasn’t acted in the Inikka Inikka song. “The film has been granted a ‘U’ certificate. It is a family entertainer,” he added.

Meanwhile, in her complaint to the commissioner of police, Nazriya has said that she had expressed her reservations about the shot during shoot and after arbitrations, the team had decided to do away with it. The actress added that Sarkunam threatened her after she raised the issue with him after watching the trailer online. “He abused me, threatened me and my family, and vowed that he would bring disrespect to my Muslim community willfully,” she said.