Pretoria - An urgent application, to force the leading actor in a film called And Now? - shot in SA and dealing with life after the 2010 World Cup - to continue acting in the film, was brought in the Pretoria High Court last week.
This was after he gave notice to the producer that he had had enough and was quitting.
Natalie Raphil, a forex trader and movie producer, said in papers before the court that she was filming And Now? with well-known American film producer Irwin Winkler.
He has produced movies such as Double Trouble, which starred Elvis Presley, and in 1976 he won the Oscar for Best Picture for Rocky. As a producer he has also been nominated for Best Picture for three well known films - Raging Bull, The Right Stuff and Goodfellas.
He agreed to be the producer of a movie called Behind 2010 that characterised the essence of having staged the World Cup in SA. This film was released shortly before the event, and the leading role starred Lushen Naidoo, a Rivonia business analyst and part-time actor.
Raphil said Naidoo indicated that he would play the lead role again in And Now? for which the budget was R11 million.
Raphil said the agreement was that Naidoo would continue acting until the film had been completed.
According to her, the film is 70 percent completed and due to be released in February.
Earlier this year, she received an e-mail from Naidoo in which he gave four weeks’ notice.
However, he later agreed to proceed, Raphil said.
But recently, Raphil said, she received another e-mail, in which Naidoo said he could no longer continue, as the production had had a negative impact on his health. His full-time employment had also been compromised. All this, he said, was causing him unnecessary stress.
Raphil said she tried to discuss the matter amicably with him, but he stuck to his guns.
“He is the leading actor. If he simply decided he does not want to continue, we will not be able to finalise the movie.”
About 400 people were deriving an income from this movie and their jobs were at stake if Naidoo refused to see through the movie, she said.
She noted that only about 30 percent of the movie was left to shoot.
Raphil said she gave the rest of the cast off last month in an attempt to settle the dispute, but filming had to start sometime this month or else they would be behind schedule.
Naidoo, in his response, made it clear that he was not an actor, never had any formal training, nor was it his intention to be an actor.
He said he met Raphil in a nightclub and she later asked him to play a role in the first movie.
He agreed, as that film was “a sort-of promotional campaign” for the World Cup and he did not need acting skills.
“It became clear to me that that was an informal, impromptu slapstick production…There were very few lines for me to memorise and it simply showed the South African ‘high life’.”
Raphil told him things would be the same with And Now? - which he understood was a follow-up movie, he said.
He also understood it to be completed within eight months and that the standard of acting would remain low.
But now, nearly two years down the line, he had realised that this is a full feature movie, that the standard of acting required was much higher and that the frequency of the shots increased dramatically.
Naidoo said as he was not an actor, he had to do many reshoots and he simply could not cope with this work any longer. He believed he had lawfully terminated his contract with the producer regarding his role in this movie.
But Judge Ferdi Preller found that this was not the case.
He ordered Naidoo to continue playing his role, but said it must not interfere with his normal work schedule. He must be given the shooting schedule beforehand as well as his script for the particular shoot.
The producer must also assist him in raehearsals and if he “gave his best endeavours” in completing the movie, he would be entitled to some royalties. - Pretoria News