Tuesday Jul 14 2009, Bangalore

Jaggesh says 'not guilty"

Actor-turned-politician Jaggesh says he is not at all responsible for the delay in the release of his 'Eddelu Manjunatha'.

The film, delayed by more than three years, is releasing this week.

Many reasons contributed to the delay in release: its co-producer Debora Shia backed out of the project in the beginning, then Jaggesh stood for elections, the film’s budget wwent over the roof and finally the clash between director Guru Prasad and producer Sanath Kumar. But director Guru Prasad had maintained that it was Jaggesh's non-cooperation which was the main reason for the film's delay.

"The delay in release of the film has nothing to do with me. It is sheer escapism on Guru's part. I have finished the dubbing for the film almost one year back and it's not my fault if the film gets delayed due to other problems," says Jaggesh.

However Jaggesh says he doesn't mind Guru talking like that. "Guru is a passionate film maker. His only weakness is his talkative nature. The frustration might have made him talk like that," says Jaggesh.