The Madras High Court has issued a notice to the Tamil Film Producers’ Council president Vishal Krishna, and producer Michael Rayappan, following a defamation suit filed by actor Simbu recently.
According to Puthiya Thalaimurai, Simbu filed a plea against Vishal and Rayappan, the producer of Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangadhavan, for allegedly defaming him after the film’s release. In his plea, Silamabarasan said that Rayappan unnecessarily made statements aimed at tarnishing his image.
He also said, “Rayappan is yet to pay a huge sum of my salary. During the problems post the release of AAA, Vishal got involved in kangaroo court and acted in favour of Rayappan.” The actor demanded Rs 1 crore as compensation from both.
Responding to this plea, the Madras HC has sent notices to both Rayappan and Vishal to file their clarification on the issue.
The film was directed by Adhik Ravichandran of Trisha Illena Nayanthara fame. During its release in 2017, it faced legal issues when a petition seeking a stay on the film’s release was filed by financier Ramesh. The producer of the film, Michael Rayappan was summoned to court. After many hearings on the matter, the film released in June but was a failure at the box office.
Later, in December 2017, producer Rayappan and director Adhik Ravichandran denounced actor Silambarasan for the losses they incurred due to the failure of the film. Rayappan, speaking to the media, said that he went ahead with the production despite having been warned by other producers to not trust Silambarasan.
Director Adhik Ravichandran, echoing Rayappan’s words, said, “The movie was not under our control. We had Tamannaah for 30 days, but shot only for 15; we had Shriya for 15 days, but shot only for six. I did think about filing a complaint, but Simbu said that if AAA doesn’t work out, he would do another film with us.”
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Following this, newspapers had reported that a “red notice” was issued to Simbu by the TFPC based on complaints from several producers. This reportedly meant that the actor could not take up movies till the issue got resolved.
Vishal had said that the TFPC would stay out of the matter, and the Nadigar Sangam will instead take up Rayappan’s complaint. “Since this is an actor’s issue, Prakash Raj and I are staying out of it. The Sangam will now talk to Simbu, to know his stand and resolve the problem.”