CHENNAI : Film director R Shanmugaraja, known popularly as Mysskin, who had produced box office hit films like ‘Thupparivalan’, has been restrained by the Madras High Court from directing or releasing any other movie with the same or similar storyline as indicated in an agreement he had entered with Transworld Telecommunications Private Limited in Mylapore, in 2015.
Justice M Govindaraj granted the injunction while passing interim orders on an original side application from Transworld, represented by its managing director R Raghunandan, last week. The judge directed the applicant to initiate arbitration proceedings within two weeks and posted the matter for further hearing on January 2.
According to financier Raghunandan, who had lent financial aid for the production of films like ‘Captain Prabhakaran’ and ‘Chinna Gounder’, Mysskin, proprietor of Lone Wolf Productions, approached him for the production of a film.
Believing him, he (Raghunandan) entered into an agreement on July 11, 2015, to produce a crime thriller with his son, Shyam Saminathan, in the lead role. The total budget for the film was estimated at Rs 7 crore, of which Rs 3 crore was fixed as the remuneration to Mysskin to direct the film. He had also given Rs 1 crore towards advance to Mysskin on the assurance that the latter would not take up any other project and complete the film by April 2016. However, to his shock and dismay, Mysskin never started this project and used the advance amount to make another film ‘Thupparivalan’, starring Vishal in the lead role.
The applicant was further shocked to learn from newspapers that Mysskin has agreed to direct a movie with another person as hero with the same storyline, which was the part of the 2015 agreement. Contending that Mysskin had wantonly breached the trust and violated the conditions of the agreement, Raghunandan moved the High Court with the present plea to restrain Mysskin from directing or releasing any other movie with the same or similar storyline, which is granted now.