Lyca Productions, the production company that is producing Indian 2, the sequel of filmmaker Shankar’s 1996 Tamil thriller film Indian, moved the Madras High Court on Thursday seeking an interim injunction on the filmmaker from directing any other film before completing Indian 2, The Hindu reported.
Justice PT Asha, who was hearing the case, refused to grant the injunction and said that an order can be passed only after hearing the director’s side. The move comes at a time when Shankar is set to direct a Telugu film starring Ram Charan in the lead, that was announced in February.
Lyca Productions accused Shankar of not completing Indian 2, despite spending Rs 180 crore from the Rs 236 crore budget. Mentioning that 80% of the film had been finished, the banner demanded that Shankar complete shooting the rest of the film.
The production company claimed that it paid Shankar Rs 14 crore of his agreed remuneration of Rs 40 crore. Lyca Productions said that it was willing to pay the remaining Rs 26 crore to the court.
The court has asked for a notice to be sent to Shankar and a response is expected to be submitted by April 15.
While Kamal Haasan is set to reprise his role as Senapathy from Indian, Indian 2 will also feature Nedumudi Venu, Kajal Aggarwal, Siddharth, Rakul Preet Singh, Bobby Simha, Priya Bhavani Shankar, and Samuthirakani. The film was officially announced in September 2017 during the final episode of the first season of reality television show Bigg Boss Tamil, which was being hosted by Haasan.
This is not the first time Indian 2 has been embroiled in problems.
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In February 2020, three persons were killed and nine injured in a freak crane accident at the film’s sets in EVP Film City in Chennai. While the makers of the film announced relief for the bereaved families, Haasan wrote to Lyca Productions questioning the safety precautions and insurance policy maintained by the production team. In response, Lyca Productions had written in a letter that they had left “no stone unturned” for the safety and that a “comprehensive insurance policy” for all the members have been taken. Further, the production company said that the “entire shoot was also under the control and supervision” of the actor and Shankar.
Indian 2’s music is set to be composed by Anirudh Ravichander, with R Rathnavelu as the cinematographer and A Sreekar Prasad as the editor.