The Tamil film industry, which saw cracks appearing in its unity when actor Ajith Kumar expressed his displeasure over actors being forced to attend functions, turned into a battle ground on Friday as it witnessed a war of words and an attack on the house of stunt master Jaguar Thangam. The stunt master’s wife was injured in the attack.

Thangam, who expressed resentment at the non-inclusion of Ajith’s name in the FIR of a case relating to the throwing of stones at his house on Wednesday, was getting ready to go and meet the Chief Minister when a group of men, on three motorbikes, pelted stones at his house in MGR Nagar around 5 pm.

One of the stones landed on Thangam’s wife, Shanti, and she was taken to hospital for treatment.

Whatever happened to the few policemen deployed outside the house in the morning was not known.

Police pickets were also posted outside the house of Ajith as tinsel town stood divided with battle lines drawn.

The South Indian Film Artistes Association accused the president of Film Employees Federation of South India, V C Guhanathan, of creating a rift in the industry by taking unilateral decisions and using abusive language against actors in media interviews.

Speaking at a film’s audio launch, Guhanathan said that asking an actor to attend a function could not be construed as a threat, as Ajith has suggested.

Meanwhile, Rajinikanth, the lone actor who had openly supported Ajith faced a different problem. He first clapped when Ajith made the remarks at the function on October 6 and then spoke his mind on Thursday.

Getting wind of the developments, Rajinikanth’s fans gathered outside the Raghavendra Kalyana Mandapam to devise a plan to protect him, triggering rumours that his mandapam was attacked.