Sipayi team stranded in Pattaya

On her birthday earlier this month, Sruthi Hariharan had excitedly written about her first foreign trip for a song shoot of her upcoming film, Sipayi. “Can’t wait to share my first abroad trip with all of you all, (sic)” she wrote on her social networking page, while tagging her co-star, Siddarth Mahesh, and other crew members. But, the team, who landed in Bangkok on February 5 and shot for a day, ran into trouble with local cops who took them into custody and seized their passports and equipment for alleged failure to obtain required work permits.Subsequently, the 16-member team, including three women, has been stuck on foreign soil, unable to return home.
SIPAYI TEAM CLAIMS Lead actor Siddharth, who is also the producer of the film, says, “According to the rules and regulations for visa to Thailand, it is clearly mentioned that a work permit is required for shooting in the country only if the schedule is 15 days and above. Our schedule was just for five days, so we came on a regular, on-arrival visa and started shooting. We shot for a day in Bangkok and then came to Pattaya the next day. By afternoon, immigration officials came to the set and said that we need a work permit, and since we did not have it, we had to accompany them. We were taken into custody and later released on a surety. However, our passports were withheld, as they said that we had already committed an offence and that our case was now a legal matter. We tried reasoning with them that the documents on the Thai official website did not mandate a work permit, but that went in vain. The Indian embassy here is now working towards getting us back home.”
Procedure to be followed Indrajit Lankesh, who shot in Bangkok recently for his Luv U Alia, clarifies. “There is a lot of paperwork that is required to shoot in Bangkok, but then you don’t have to run around for anything. There are line producers there who will get you all the necessary permissions, hotel accommodations, food, etc. Thailand is a country that gives visa-on-arrival to Indians, but that doesn’t mean that you can just pitch your camera somewhere and start shooting,” he says. Indrajit adds, “When you get there, you have to very clearly state the purpose of your visit and get a work permit visa, after which you can leave everything else to the line producer. In fact, if all the paperwork is in place, an official and a policemen will be on your set to ensure that you can shoot peacefully.”
KFCC stand The Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce has been following up the matter with the Indian Embassy in Thailand. “Given that the passports of the entire team has been seized, and the fact that their visas have expired, the matter is now in the court of law. We have contacted the Indian embassy and have been assured that they will ensure the speedy return of the film’s team,” says Thomas DSouza, president of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce. However, he adds that the chamber would proceed with caution in its involvement in the matter, as it remains unclear if the producer of Sipayi had obtained all work permits before flying abroad. “Rumour is that they went there on tourist visas. So, there are some grey areas in this matter. The court hearing for the matter has been posted for Monday,” he says.