A sub-ordinate court in Coimbatore has asked director John Paulraj and the producers of Agni Devi to file their response to the complaints raised by actor Bobby Simha by April 5. The issue has been going on for a week now, with the film’s lead actor Bobby Simha claiming that the movie was shot with his body double and VFX, and that he had quit after five days of shoot due to creative differences with director Paulraj.
As reported earlier, both Bobby Simha and the lawyer handling the case have maintained that the film released on March 21 despite the stay order issued by the sub-ordinate court a day before release. While the number of screens in which the film released are yet to be known, the Tamil Film Producers’ Council (TFPC) has reportedly said that no such stay order was issued, and has asked Bobby Simha to immediately withdraw all complaints.
Bobby Simha’s lawyer G Vijay Kumar shared a copy of the order addressed to the film’s producers Seantoa Studio, and told Silverscreen, “The film’s producer and director appeared in front of court and have been asked to respond to the complaints by 5th of April.”
Bobby Simha also circulated a video to the press calling out the TFPC for not questioning the film’s release despite the stay order, and also said that he was never called for any talks to mediate the issue.
According to a report by TNM, a meeting was organised by TFPC yesterday to address the issue. Bobby Simha was asked to appear before the council, but he did not turn up. He was asked to withdraw the cases filed, failing which the council said they would unanimously boycott him. TFPC secretary Durai Raj was quoted saying, “We have given him a day’s time to withdraw all cases and complaints. Based on his decision we will proceed further.”
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Bobby Simha has also filed a complaint with the Nandambakkam police in Chennai, staying that most of the scenes in the film were shot with a body double and VFX, without his consent. Following this, the police booked director John Paulraj under four sections of the IPC, including forgery of documents and criminal breach of trust.
The movie, written and directed by Paulraj, was initially titled Agni vs Devi, and posters and trailers released under this name. The title was subsequently changed to Agni Devi in January, and a second trailer released. Bobby Simha and Madhubala star in the lead as Agni and Devi.
The film is inspired by a novel written by Rajesh Kumar, and the story revolves around the fight between Agni and Devi. Madhubala plays the antagonist – minister Shakuntala Devi. Remya Nambeesan and Satish are part of the cast. Music for the movie is by Dhruvangal Pathinaaru fame Jakes Bejoy.