Tamil actor T.R. Silambarasan on Tuesday, September 19, 2023 claimed he was entitled to not return an advance of ₹1 crore paid to him by Vels Film International since the movie Corona Kumar was not shot within one year from July 16, 2021 when the artist agreement was signed by him to play the protagonist.
The actor has filed a counter-affidavit to a case filed against him by the production company before the Madras High Court and urged the court to vacate an ex-parte interim order passed by it on August 29, 2023 directing him to furnish security for a sum of ₹1 crore or end up suffering further orders.
When the case was listed before Justice Abdul Quddhose on Tuesday, the actor’s counsel Vijayan Subramanian said, the actor had been paid only an advance of ₹1 crore and not ₹4.5 crore as claimed by the producer. He said, as per the agreement, Mr. Silambarasan’s total remuneration was fixed as ₹9.5 crore.
The actor in his affidavit said he had agreed to allot 50 days of call sheet within one year from the date on which the agreement was signed. However, even pre-production work had not commenced before July 15, 2022 and so he had to suffer huge amount of monetary loss by not getting committed for other movies during the period.
Referring to a clause in the artists’ agreement, he contended the advance need not be repaid if the production of the movie had not commenced/completed within a year. He had now committed to act in an untitled movie, tentatively named as STR#48, under the banner of Rajkamal Films International.
On the other hand, advocate M. Santhanaraman, representing Vels Film International, contended the actor could not be allowed to take advantage of his own wrong by contending he would not refund the advance amount because he had not acted in Corona Kumar.
The lawyer brought it to the notice of the court that the film producers’ council had issued a red card against the actor on the basis of a complaint lodged by another producer though Vels Films International too had lodged a complaint against him before the council for refusing to shoot Corona Kumar.
The advocate sought some time to file a detailed reply to the actor’s counter-affidavit and hence the judge adjourned the hearing to October 6.
