Nayanthara has been banned from working in Tamil films! The powerful Tamil Film Producers Council (TFPC) and South Indian Artists Association, referred to as the Nadigar Sangam, have jointly issued a statement asking producers to refrain from working with the numero uno actress in south Indian films. The ban was imposed after director Lingusamy and his producer brother Subash Chandra Bose filed a complaint against her stating that she had refused to return the Rs 20 lakhs she had taken as advance from them for their film Paiyya. Nayanthara was signed for this film opposite Paruthiveeran Karthi for a record salary of Rs 1crore. It was the talk of Kollywood, as no actress has ever been offered such a whopping amount in an industry in which heroines are paid only in the range of Rs 40 to 50 lakhs. This hype resulted in the project getting a lot of publicity. Soon, producers cited the global economic recession and urged Nayanthara to take a cut in her salary. This led to a war of words between the producers and the actress and she was unceremoniously dropped from the project and replaced by Tamanna. Later, the producers tried to work out a compromise formula by which she could retain Rs 5 lakhs as compensation from the Rs 20 lakhs advance that had already been paid to her. This irked the star. Speaking to Hyderabad Times from the sets of her Telugu film with NTR in the city, Nayanthara retorted, “Who is Lingusamy to decide my compensation after I sat at home for three months waiting for his film to start? I lost out on a big Telugu and Tamil film. My losses are huge. Who will compensate me for my time? The ban on me is totally unfair and smacks of double standards.” While Nayantara might have received the rough end of the council’s decision, the industry has many big male stars who have taken advance in crores and are yet to fulfil their commitments. She is also shocked that the Nadigar Sangam has washed its hands off her when she is in a difficult position. Nayan concludes, “Nobody can force me to do anything. I’m a fiercely independent woman who has no insecurities and who values her self-respect more than anything else. In this case, I’m being targeted because I’m an actress but I will fight for justice.”