Court Reserves Order on Sudha Kongara Bid to Block Dawn Pictures Film Release
The Madras High Court has reserved its order on an application filed by film director Sudha Kongara seeking to block the release of Dawn Pictures' upcoming film Idhayam Murali over claimed unpaid dues of ₹8.39 crore. During the hearing in Madras, Dawn Pictures filed a counter affidavit alleging that Kongara suppressed the fact that she had already received ₹4.12 crore from 2D Entertainment Private Limited for the movie Parasakthi.
Justice K. Kumaresh Babu reserved the orders following submissions from both sides. Dawn Pictures, represented by senior counsel P.H. Arvindh Pandian, argued that the director's agreement should not be viewed in isolation and urged the court to consider interconnected agreements.
According to Dawn Pictures, Kongara entered into a director's agreement with them on July 2, 2024, for a remuneration of ₹15 crore. This followed a previous agreement she had entered into with 2D Entertainment on June 6, 2021, for ₹12.5 crore, which did not take off.
On December 18, 2024, Kongara terminated her agreement with 2D Entertainment upon receiving ₹4.12 crore for writing the script, screenplay, and dialogues. Dawn Pictures subsequently acquired the intellectual property rights of the film from 2D Entertainment for ₹5.8 crore and paid ₹8.5 crore to Kongara, allegedly without knowing the details of the termination agreement.
The production house claimed that the termination agreement specified that Kongara assigned her intellectual property, moral, and exploitation rights upon receiving the ₹4.12 crore. Dawn Pictures argued it ended up paying her ₹8.5 crore without knowledge of these clauses.
The production house also detailed financial losses, citing a leak of the movie Parasakthi in November 2025 that diminished its OTT sale value and required hiring anti-piracy agencies. Additionally, Dawn Pictures faced legal expenses from a copyright suit filed by a script writer just before the film's theatrical release on January 10, 2026.
Arguing that these interconnected transactions and counter-claims require adjustment before an arbitral tribunal, Dawn Pictures contended that Kongara is not entitled to interim relief to stall the release of Idhayam Murali, which stars Atharvaa.
