Director Gautam Vasudev Menon and actor Vikram on the sets of Dhruva Natchathiram. Special arrangement.
Film director Gautam Vasudev Menon has approached the Madras High Court with a plea to grant him 30 more days to release the long-awaited ‘Chiyan’ Vikram-starrer Dhruva Natchathiram, since he is not in a position to release it before June 15, 2026, “despite best efforts”.
The application seeking extension of time till July 15, 2026 is expected to be heard by Justice K. Kumaresh Babu on Monday (June 15, 2026). On the same day, a Division Bench of Justices P. Velmurugan and K. Govindarajan Thilakavadi would be pronouncing orders on related appeals too.
Two investors K. Punniamoorthy and K. Premkumar had filed the orginal side appeals challenging an order passed by Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy on April 30, 2026 when the decks were cleared for the release of the much awaited movie on or before June 15, 2026.
The movie had got postponed for a quite a few years due to financial and consequent legal issues. The dispute stemmed from a theatrical distribution agreement the two investors had entered into with Madan Pandy of Escape Artists Motion Pictures in March 2016 with respect to Dhanush starrer Enai Noki Paayum Thota.
A financial dispute arose between them over that movie and hence, arbitral proceedings were initiated. Subsequently, a compromise was reached among the parties and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in March 2018, through which Mr. Pandy gave away 50% of his rights in Dhruva Natchathiram to Mr. Punniamoorthy and Mr. Premkumar.
The rights in Dhruva Natchathiram were reportedly given away to the two investors because Mr. Pandy was one of the partners in Kondaduvom Entertainment along with Mr. Menon and Reshma Ghatala. Therefore, the investors had filed a civil suit before the High Court in 2023 and obtained an interim injunction against the release of the movie.
In April 2026, Justice Ramamoorthy had observed no purpose would be served in not letting the movie release for years together since not only the parties before the court but also hundreds of other actors and technicians who had worked in the movie may end up suffering because of its non-release.
The judge permitted Mr. Menon to release the movie on or before June 15, 2026 and made it clear a dedicated account should be opened in a scheduled bank in the name of Kondaduvom Entertainment for the purpose of carrying out all necessary monetary transactions required to get the movie released.
He also appointed advocates M.V. Swaroop and H.S. Hredai as observers/overseers to supervise the financial transactions required to be undertaken for the release of the movie. The judge said, Mr. Menon should receive all finances, required for the release of the movie, only in the dedicated account and not into any other account.
“All payments required to be made prior to the release of the movie to the creditors who had extended loans for the production of Dhruva Natchathiram shall thereafter be made only from and out of this account. Every debit in this regard shall require the prior consent of and be verified and overseen by the observers/overseers,” the single judge ordered.
“The Observers/Overseers shall ensure in general that credits into and debits from this account are made strictly in accordance with this order read with GVM’s (Mr. Menon) principal affidavit and other affidavits filed by the respondents before this court. Without the prior consent of at least one of the observers/overseers, the bank shall not permit debits. No payment shall be made from the said account to any of the partners of Kondaduvom Entertainment either towards remuneration or share of profit without the prior leave of this court,” he added.
Then, Justice Ramamoorthy had also restrained the two investors from impeding the release of the movie and granted liberty to Mr. Menon to approach the court seeking extension of time if it could not be released before June 15, 2026 despite an endeavour to do so.
It was this order that Mr. Punniamoorthy and Mr. Premkumar had taken on appeal to the Division Bench led by Justice Velmurugan. The Bench had heard the matter and reserved its orders on June 2, 2026. In the meantime, Mr. Menon has filed an application before the single judge seeking extension of time to release the movie.
Published – June 14, 2026 09:56 am IST
