The Madras High Court on Saturday directed the central crime branch to register a case of cheating against filmmaker Gautham Vasudev Menon and four of his associates of production house Photon Kathas, if cognizable offence is disclosed upon investigation.
According to petitioner’s counsel B. Ramesh Babu, production house Photon Kathas allegedly cheated R. Jayaraman of production house R.S Infotainment of a large sum of money.
After the phenomenal success of Gautham’s Tamil film ‘Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya’(Telugu Em Maaya Chesave), a tripartite agreement was signed between Gautham, Jayaraman and Fox Star Studios to remake the film in Hindi under the title ‘Ek Deewana Tha’.
“Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya” is a 2010 Tamil romantic –drama starring Silambarasan and Trisha Krishnan. In 2012, it was remade in Hindi as “Ek Deewana Tha” featuring Prateik Babbar and Amy Jackson, but the film was a dud.
“According to the agreement, Jayaraman was supposed to receive 25 percent of his share after the release of the film. However, Photon Kathas collected his share from Fox Star studios as well and never paid him to date. Hence the petition was filed,” he added.
Despite the magistrate court directing the police to take action in the past, there has been no progress in this case.
Madras High Court chaired by Justice C.T Selvam has directed the deputy commissioner of the central crime branch to register a case on the complaint of the petitioner. The police have been asked to conduct investigation in the case and if any cognizable offence was made out, it will be brought to the notice of both the parties.
A case has been registered under section 156 (3) code of criminal procedure (CrPC)
