Justice PT Asha, before whom the plea came up on Thursday refused to pass any interim order and posted the case to April 15 to enable the director to submit his response.

The plea moved by Lyca productions claimed that the director had been paid Rs 14 crore out of his agreed remuneration of Rs 40 crore and that the company was willing to deposit the rest of Rs 26 crore in the court as long as the movie is completed.

It also contended that 80 per cent of the movie had been completed and hence the director must complete the rest.

In October 2017, Lyca productions took over the film from a different production house and work commenced. But in 2020, the shoot had to be halted abruptly following the death of three crew members on the sets due to an accident involving a crane. Though the shoots resumed in February 2021 post the COVID-19 lockdown, the movie is yet to be completed, especially with actor Kamal Hassan set to join shooting post-elections.