After producer Kathiresan bypassed the contract that he initially signed with Karthik Subbaraj to share with him 40% of revenue from the Hindi remake rights of Jigarthanda, Karthik filed a complaint in the directors’ union to settle the issue amicably. Since, the outcome is not fruitful, he has resorted to legal measures and now the Madras HC has issued stay order for producer Kathiresan to sell the remake rights in Hindi.
“Today, I would bring into your attention about a glitch in selling the remake rights of the movie by Producer Mr. S. Kathiresan. As per the contract I signed for the movie, it was assured that I will be given 40% of the revenue generated through selling the Hindi language remake rights. It recently came to my attention that Mr. Kathiresan had tried to seal the deal without my knowledge,” says Karthik.
“I filed a complaint with Tamil Nadu Film Director’s Union on this issue and through the union we conducted several meetings with members of the Producer’s Council to settle the issue amicably within four doors. Unfortunately, there is no such intention showed from Mr. S. Kathiresan to settle the issue. At last, As per the instructions from director’s union I had to take last resort of going to our judicial system to seek justice. Following which, i filed a case in Madras High Court and now the court has issued Stay Order in selling the remake rights of the movie,” Karthik added.
The following is the note I got from my lawyer which i’m giving for the press perusal.
“Madras High Court on 21st May 2015 stayed the remake of multi-crore blockbuster hit Tamil film Jigarthanda directed and written by Director Karthik Subbaraj and starring Siddarth and Lakshmi Menon. The stay has been granted until 11th June 2015 on a petition by Karthik Subbaraj alleging violation of agreement and copyright infringement by the producer Five Star Films pvt. Ltd. Represented by S.Kathiresan.
Justice R Mahadevan granted the interim injunction on a petition by Karthik Subbaraj alleging breach of payment terms and other contractual obligations by the producer resulting in copyright violation of Karthik Subbaraj, who is the Director and Story-writer of the film.
The judge restrained the producer Five Star Films, from in any manner infringing Karthik Subbaraj’s copyright in the film, by in any manner, selling, advertising and offering to sell the remake rights in any language including Hindi language till June 11. He issued notice to the producer and directed them to flee their response by them.”