It all started with an interview by Bharath to a Tamil weekly, in which he had claimed that he was not given importance in the promotions of 'Vaanam'. The actor, who is one of the protagonists of the film, said priority was given to Simbu alone.

"I was promised that enough importance would be given to all in 'Vaanam' but I was totally sidelined. Priority was given to one particular actor (Simbu) alone. I am hurt and upset. 'Pattiyal' was my first multi-starrer and things were fair then," he said.

Simbu, aka STR, reacting to Bharath�s allegations said, "I would never interfere with my film�s promotions as it is the prerogative of the producer. Same was the case in 'Vaanam' too. In fact, I wanted to ensure that all should be given equal importance."

The actor however added: "But I believe that the producer would have decided to give priority to me since I am more popular than others. 'Mankatha' and 'Nanban' are multi-starrers but importance would only be given to Ajith and Vijay alone respectively.�