Odiyan Director VA Shrikumar Menon Arrested In Cheating Case

VA Shrikumar Menon, the renowned filmmaker who made his feature film debut with the Mohanlal starrer Odiyan, is arrested in a cheating case. Reportedly, the arrest was made after the anticipatory bail moved by the director was rejected by the district court. VA Shrikumar has been arrested for allegedly cheating a business group.

If the reports are to be believed, the Odiyan director had obtained around Rs. 8 Crore from the business group, promising to make a film under their home banner. However, VA Shrikumar did not deliver on the promise, and the business group filed a police complaint against him.

According to the reports, the filmmaker was taken into custody by the investigation team from his residence in Palakkad, Kerala, on Thursday (May 6) night. VA Shrikumar Menon's arrest was recorded by the police on Friday (May 7). DK Prithewiraj, the Alappuzha deputy superintendent of police, told PTI that Shrikumar is booked under section 420 (cheating and dishonesty inducing delivery of property) of IPC.

VA Shrikumar Menon was earlier arrested in 2019 after the renowned actress Manju Warrier filed a complaint against him. The lady superstar filed a complaint against the filmmaker at the Thrissur East police station, citing that he issued a death threat against her, and defamed her on social media. The charges against VA Shrikumar included cyberstalking, trying to defame Manju Warrier and her close associates by orchestrating a hate campaign against them on social media, and threatening to harm her mentally and physically.

The filmmaker, who is best known for the ad campaigns he directed for Kalyan Jewellers, made his feature film debut with the Mohanlal starter Odiyan. The movie, which was released with huge pre-release hype, however, ended up as a critical and commercial failure. VA Shrikumar Menon was supposed to direct Mohanlal once again in the film adaptation of MT Vasudevan Nair's Randamoozham. But the project was dropped later due to the fallout between MT and Menon.