Madras HC directs actor Silambarasan to furnish security of Rs 1 crore

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Tuesday directed Tamil actor Silambarasan TR to furnish a security of Rs 1 crore within three weeks.

The court directive came on an application by Tamil movie producers, Vels International Ltd to restrain Silambarasan from acting in any other movie before the completion of its production "Corona Kumar".

It also said that he would be constrained to pass further orders on September 19 in case of failure to comply with this direction.

A bench of Justice Abdul Quddhose issued the direction after counsel of the film company informed the court that the production house had paid Rs 4.5 crore to the actor out of a total amount of Rs 9.5 crore for acting in the movie, and yet the actor was not willing to fulfill his commitment as agreed upon in 2021.

The judge, on pursuing the written agreement between the actor and production house on July 16, 2021, found that it had mentioned only a sum of Rs 1 crore being paid as an advance to the actor for "Corona Kumar" and that there was no mention regarding the payment of an advance amount of Rs 4.5 crore.

Counsel of the film company, however, informed the judge that there were certain transactions and claimed that some amount was paid in cash.

The judge then said that he doubted whether the entire transactions were intended only for the movie and that a clear picture on the transaction would emerge only after the actor received notice of the present application, filed under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Counselling Act of 1996 and made an appearance through his lawyer.

He said that till then the producer could get protection only to the extent of Rs 1 crore.