The Madras High Court has stalled the re-release of the 1991 Tamil movie 'Gunaa' which featured actor-politician Kamal Hasan in the lead role. Directed by Santhana Bharti, 'Gunaa' became a talking point recently after the film's superhit song 'Kanmani Anbodu Kadalan' was used in Malayalam chartbuster 'Manjummel Boys.'
It was one Ghanshyam Hemdev who reached the Madras High Court with a suit against the re-release of the movie. Hemdev maintained that he holds the copyright of the movie and Justice P Velmurugan passed the interim order on Wednesday restraining Pyramid Audio India from the re-release, an action that was "commercially exploiting" the movie.
Ghanshyam Hemdev also wanted the court to declare that he was the absolute owner of the entire rights to the movie, the Times Of India (TOI) said in a report. He reportedly wanted the High Court to direct the Pyramid and Evergreen Media to surrender the profit earned through commercial exploitation of the movie to him.
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The High Court has reportedly directed Pyramid and Evergreen Media to respond by July 22. Itas reported that Pyramid Audio Group plans to release 'Gunaa' worldwide.
Having had an average run at the box office 'Gunaa' won several awards and was critically acclaimed. 'Manjummel Boys', one of the most-grossing movies in the Malayalam film industry, brought back the Haasan movie to public imagination by placing its premises around Kodaikanal where 'Gunaa' was shot over two decades ago. It explained how the Devil's Kitchen caves, a tourist destination in the hill station was rebranded as 'Guna Caves' after the movie was shot there. The survival thriller 'Manjummel Boys' also used the Ilayaraja-composed 'Kanmani Anbodu Kadalan...' in the movie.
On the other hand, the Enforcement Directorate is probing allegations of financial irregularities against the production house, Parava Films Llp, which produced 'Manjummel Boys'. The ED reportedly questioned producer Shawn Antony during the probe.
According to media reports, the ED sent notices to Soubin Shahir, his father Babu Shahir and producer Shawn Antony.
The ED had received complaints of financial irregularities in the Malayalam film industry, and the agency had initiated a probe targetting production houses.