Film company moves HC to restrain release of Suriya's Thaanaa Serndha Kootam

Suriya

Staar Movies, owned by actor Prashanth's mother has moved the Madras High Court to restrain makers of Tamil film 'Thaanaa Serndha Kootam', starring popular film star Suriya, from releasing the movie.

The firm sought to restrain makers of the film from releasing the film scheduled to hit theatres on January 12, before settling a dispute over remake rights.

The petitioners submitted that Hindi film 'Special 26', starring Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, was released in 2013.In August 2014, they signed an agreement, valid for three years with the film's makers Viacom 18,who also owned the copyright and obtained the rights to remake it in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.

In September 2016, Staar Movies assigned the right to remake the film in Tamil to RPP Film factory for Rs 1.5 crore. However, they failed to produce the remake within the stipulated one year period.

The petitioner said they subsequently came to know that Studio Green was making the Tamil version, with Suriya in the lead role. They then approached Madras High Court, alleging that the remake was being made without their consent.

However, a single judge, pointing out that the petitioner has approached the court at the 11th hour, seeking an injunction against the release, dismissed the petition. Aggrieved, Staar Movies filed the present appeal.

The First Bench, comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Abdul Quddhose, recorded the contentions of both parties and posted the appeal to January 10.

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