Kabali release: HC notice to Rajinikanth on Lingaa distributor’s plea

The Madras high court on Thursday issued a notice to Rajinikanth on a petition to stop the release of Kabali until the actor paid Rs 89 lakhs as compensation to distributor of his previous film, Lingaa.

The Madras high court on Thursday issued notice to Rajinikanth on a petition seeking to restrain release of his new film, Kabali, until he paid Rs 89 lakh, promised as compensation, to distributor of his previous outing, Lingaa, which released in 2014.

Petitioner R Mahaprabhu of Sukra films told the court that Lingaa failed despite assurances given by its producer Rockline Venkatesh, the director and Rajinikanth.

Justice MM Sundresh before whom the petition by Sukra Films, a film distribution firm came up, issued notice to Tamil Film Producers Council, Rajinikanth and other respondents and adjourned the matter for tomorrow.

Petitioner R Mahaprabhu of Sukra films submitted that Rajini-starrer ‘Lingaa’ had bombed at the box office despite assurances given by its producer Rockline Venkatesh, the director and Rajinikanth.

Watch Neruppu da song from Kabali here:

He also claimed that the company had a financial loss of Rs 7.45 crore in Coimbatore distribution circle alone.

He submitted that Rajinikanth and Venkatesh had agreed to compensate the overall loss of the distributors and theatres in Tamil Nadu and as part of the deal, Rs 2.59 crore was allotted to the Coimbatore region.

Read: Kabali | Two-minute scene from the film leaked

Of this amount, Rs 1.70 crore was paid to Coimbatore, Erode, Nilgiri, Tiruppur (CENT) Theatre Owners Association. The balance of Rs 89 lakh was yet to be settled, he alleged.

He also alleged that the Tamil Nadu Producer’s Council had failed to settle the issue.

The petitioner sought a direction from the court to restrain release Kabali till the amount was settled.