Baahubali producer moves high court, release of 2 Tamil films stayed

HYDERABAD: The Telangana high court on Wednesday stayed the release of two Tamil films in a writ plea filed by ‘Baahubali’ film producer and Arka Media Works partner Shobu Yarlagadda who wanted the release of the films be stalled till the producers clear his dues.
A bench of acting Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice Shameem Akther passed the interim order after hearing the plea of Yarlagadda, who sought repayment of dues from SN Rajarajan of K Productions and P Madan of Escape Artistes Motion Pictures. With this order, ‘Enai Noki Paayum Thota’ starring Dhanush and Megha Aakash and ‘Sindhubaadh’ starring Vijay Sethupathi and Anjali will not be released till the producers resolve the dispute with Yarlagadda.
The dispute has its roots in the theatrical rights awarded to Rajarajan, who had agreed to pay Rs 28 crore for bagging the rights, but paid only Rs 12.5 crore in instalments and entered into a loan agreement with Yarlagadda for repaying the remaining Rs 15.5 crore. When this did not happen, the latter filed a plea seeking injunction on the release of two films.
A civil court in Hyderabad dismissed the plea on May 4. Aggrieved by this, Yarlagadda filed an appeal in the high court. His contention was that the films cannot be released without his prior consent. Though the dispute is between Arka Media and Rajarajan, Madan was also made a respondent because is the producer of ‘Enai Noki Paayum Thota’ movie.