The Madras High Court on Monday has banned director Mysskin from directing and releasing crime thrillers, a genre the director is well known for. The court was hearing a petition filed by financier Ragunandhan and his son Maitreya.

According to the petitioners, Mysskin had signed an agreement with the two in 2015 that his next crime thriller, now titled Psycho, would star Maitreya in the lead. However, when the director announced that the film will star Udhayanidhi Stalin, Aditi Rao Hydari and Nithya Menen a few months ago in 2018, it left the two disappointed. Maitreya also alleges that his father had paid Rs 1 crore to Mysskin for the project.

Justice Govindaraj, who heard the case, has directed Mysskin to stand true to his agreement and to respond to the case by January 2, 2019. The Court has also banned the director from releasing Psycho.

In an interview with Times of India, Maitreya shares that while the director had promised to take up the project soon after Savarakathi, he went on to work with Vishal in Thuparivalan.

“In March 2016, he said that Vishal wanted to do a film with him and asked for a further six months’ time. I asked him how he could do a film for someone else when he had to be directing a film for us as per our agreement. But he asked me to trust him unconditionally. He even promised on his “kalai thaai cinema” that he would take up our project after Thuppaarivalan,” he was quoted saying.

Mysskin who made his directorial debut in 2006 with Chithiram Pesuthadi, has a number of thrillers to his credit – Anjathe, Yuddham Sei, and Thupparivaalan, to name a few.

Psycho is being produced by Double Meaning Productions and has Ilaiyaraaja for music and PC Sreeram for cinematography.