The Supreme Court has declined to interfere with a Madras High Court judgment directing filmmaker Gautham Vasudev Menon and others to repay Rs 4.25 crore, along with 12 per cent annual interest, to film production company R.S. Infotainment in a contractual dispute over an unmade Tamil film.
A Bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice K. Vinod Chandran dismissed the special leave petition at the admission stage, thereby affirming the Madras High Court’s March 23, 2026 judgment, which had upheld the trial court’s decree in favour of R.S. Infotainment.
The dispute stemmed from a production agreement executed on November 27, 2008, under which R.S. Infotainment agreed to finance an untitled Tamil film to be directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon through Photon Factory at a total cost of Rs 13.5 crore.
According to R.S. Infotainment, it disbursed Rs 4.25 crore under the agreement. However, despite repeated demands, the proposed film never commenced, prompting the company to seek recovery of the amount on the ground that the agreement had been breached.
The filmmakers contested the claim, arguing that the project could not proceed because R.S. Infotainment failed to release the remaining instalments under the agreed funding schedule. They further contended that the project was subsequently revived under Photon Kathaas Production Pvt. Ltd. with fresh investment and was eventually released in 2012 as Nee Thane En Pon Vasantham.
The trial court rejected this defence and directed Photon Factory, Gautham Vasudev Menon and another defendant to refund Rs 4.25 crore together with interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum from May 11, 2010, besides costs.
The Madras High Court subsequently affirmed the decree, holding that the filmmakers had failed to produce any convincing evidence to establish that the film contemplated under the 2008 agreement had ever commenced.
The Division Bench observed that the bills, vouchers, compact disc and other materials relied upon by the defendants did not demonstrate that they related to the project covered by the original agreement.
The High Court also rejected the contention that Nee Thane En Pon Vasantham was the same project envisaged under the 2008 agreement. It noted that the film was produced pursuant to an entirely separate agreement executed in July 2011 with Photon Kathaas Production Pvt. Ltd., and therefore bore no contractual connection with the earlier agreement or its subsequent variation.
Holding that the defendants could not retain RS 4.25 crore without commencing the agreed project, the High Court found no error in the trial court’s decree and upheld the direction to refund the amount with interest.
The Supreme Court has now refused to interfere with those findings, bringing the litigation to a close.
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