Chennai: The Madras High Court has declined to grant an interim stay on the release of the upcoming Tamil film ‘Idhayam Murali’, despite a plea from acclaimed filmmaker Sudha Kongara. Kongara had sought to halt the film’s theatrical debut, scheduled for July 10, 2026, citing alleged unpaid dues amounting to ₹8.39 crore from Dawn Pictures for her previous directorial venture, ‘Parasakthi’.
Payment Dispute at the Core of Legal Battle
Justice K. Kumaresh Babu dismissed the plea for an interim injunction, stating that the monetary dispute between Sudha Kongara and Dawn Pictures should be resolved through arbitration. The court has referred the matter to an arbitral tribunal and appointed retired Justice R. Subramanian as the arbitrator.
According to court documents and reports, Sudha Kongara claimed that Dawn Pictures owed her ₹8.39 crore as per a director’s agreement for ‘Parasakthi’, a film which also featured actor Sivakarthikeyan. She approached the court seeking a direction to restrain Dawn Pictures from releasing ‘Idhayam Murali’ until her dues were cleared. Kongara argued that restraining the release of the new film was the only way to secure her pending dues while arbitration proceedings were ongoing.
Information available with The Chenab Times indicates that Kongara had initially entered into a director’s agreement with 2D Entertainment for ‘Parasakthi’ and later terminated it after receiving ₹4.12 crore. Dawn Pictures, which subsequently acquired the film’s intellectual property rights from 2D Entertainment for ₹5.8 crore, contended that they had already paid Kongara ₹8.5 crore (excluding GST).
Dawn Pictures’ Counterclaims and Financial Woes
Dawn Pictures, represented by senior counsel P.H. Arvindh Pandian, argued against the plea, stating that the matter involved several interconnected agreements and counterclaims that needed to be examined holistically by an arbitral tribunal, rather than through an interim court order. The production house further informed the court that it had faced significant financial setbacks during the production of ‘Parasakthi’. These included the leakage of portions of the film online during production, necessitating the hiring of anti-piracy agencies and impacting the film’s Over-The-Top (OTT) value. Additionally, the company highlighted that a separate copyright suit filed by a scriptwriter prior to the release of ‘Parasakthi’ had incurred further legal expenses.
The production house asserted that these factors demonstrated that both parties had substantial financial claims that required thorough investigation. Dawn Pictures also claimed that Kongara had received remuneration from 2D Entertainment for the script, screenplay, and dialogues of ‘Parasakthi’, a fact they alleged she had suppressed.
Court’s Decision and Future Proceedings
While refusing to grant the interim injunction, Justice K. Kumaresh Babu did not reserve all records of revenue generated from ‘Parasakthi’ as requested by Kongara. Instead, the court emphasized that the dispute was primarily a monetary one that fell under the purview of arbitration. The court’s decision means that ‘Idhayam Murali’, starring Atharvaa, will proceed with its scheduled theatrical release on July 10, 2026, without any legal impediment from this particular case. However, the underlying payment dispute between Sudha Kongara and Dawn Pictures remains active and will be adjudicated by the appointed arbitrator.
The legal battle originated from an arbitration application filed by Kongara and her celebrity management company, Undertow Professional Services Private Limited, under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act. The case also saw preliminary hearings where satellite release-related transactions for ‘Parasakthi’ were temporarily put on hold until July 8, pending further court proceedings. The Madras High Court’s directive for arbitration signifies a procedural step, allowing the parties to pursue their claims through a more specialized dispute resolution mechanism.
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The Chenab Times News Desk
