BENGALURU: The hurdles for the release of multi-lingual movie ‘Killing Veerappan’ are cleared on Tuesday.
The Karnataka High Court upheld a lower court order and dismissed an appeal filed by a Chennai-based producer seeking directions to restrain the filmmakers temporarily from releasing and exhibiting the film, based on the life of the forest brigand pending disposal of a suit.
Judge B Veerappa dismissed the appeal filed by director and producer A Raja. He had filed the appeal against the dismissal of his interlocutory application (IA) by a lower court.
In his appeal, Raja sought a temporary injunction on the film makers from releasing and exhibiting the film ‘Killing Veerappan’ slated to be release on Friday, pending disposal of the suit.
The respondents in the appeal were Veerappan’s wife V Muthulakshmi, director Ram Gopal Varma, B V Manjunath, B S Suthintra, E Sivaprakash and Raghu Aachar.
Raja had approached the lower court claiming that he had entered an agreement with Muthulakshmi to make a film and TV serial on the life of Veerappan in Tamil Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada on May 18, 2006 and had even paid her Rs10 lakh for a period of three years. Subsequently, this was renewed with a payment of Rs5 lakh on May 18, 2012, and April 12, 2015, he added.
While dismissing the IA, the lower court had stated that the filmmakers are entitled to make the film without Raja or Muthulakshmi’s consent.
It also asked Raja why he had approached the court only when the film was about to be released and not awhen the film was announced.
Raja had told the court that he came to know that respondents had entered into an agreement with Muthulakshmi for making Killing Veerappan in Hindi and then dubbing it to other languages, in violation of his agreement.
In reply, Mutthulakshmi had denied entering into an agreement with Raja or having received any money requested the appeal be dismissed.
The other respondents had also contended that the life of Veerappan was in public domain through the mdeia and that they were entitled to make the film.
“We have spent crores of rupees to produce the film, which is ready for the release. If the movie is restrained from release, we will be put through irreparable loss,” the film’s makers told the court.