2.0 director Shankar apologises after crew attacks journalists

The last leg schedule of director Shankar's 2.0 ran into some trouble in Chennai today. The incident occurred when the team began shooting in Triplicane's  Eswar Das street. Two photojournalists visiting the set complained that it was obstructing passersby. This led to a fracas between the crew of the film and the photojournalists.

The two photojournalists Raghunathan from the daily, The Hindu, and Bharath, from a Tamil newspaper, were visiting the location when they found the unit to be causing hindrance to the public. The photographers decided to take pictures of the scene to highlight the issue. However, they were prevented from doing so and attacked by some members of the film unit.

Soon this news spread to other journalists who were not too pleased with the treatment of their peers. Many of them condemned the incident and a complaint was lodged with the police. The police swung into action and arrested one person and detained two others in connection with the incident.

Speaking to PTI later, one of the journalists said, "When we asked if it was proper to inconvenience public by blocking roads especially during (morning) peak hour, two crew members used foul language against us and we were beaten up." 

However, director Shankar turned up in person at the Chennai Press Club and offered an unconditional apology to end the problem. He said, "Although I was present there, this incident  has happened without my knowledge. Still, I sincerely express my regret. I will see to it that it does not happen again. Usually, I am very careful about (not) causing disturbance to the public, and I always advise my team to take caution to ensure that no inconvenience is caused to the public. But despite all that caution, this has somehow happened. I will ensure it does not happen again."

After Shankar's apology and assurance, the journalists have chosen to withdraw their complaint.

2.0 is one of the biggest films of the year, and stars Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar and Amy Jackson in the lead roles. A major portion of the film is already complete, and has gone into post production. The film is scheduled for theatrical release in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi on 18 October.