The Madras High Court on Wednesday, March 9 directed the Tamil Film Producers’ Council (TFPC) to pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh due to delay in submitting the required documents to the court in the defamation case filed by actor Silambarasan. Confirming the same to TNM, the actor’s team also mentioned that the court has ordered the fine to be paid to the registrar’s office by March 31. According to News 18, Justice Velumurugan ordered TFPC to pay the fine since they failed to file any affidavits for the last two years in the defamation suit filed by Simbu.
Actor Silambarasan aka Simbu filed a defamation case against Michael Rayappan, the producer of his 2017 film Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangadhavan, and actor Vishal, the then president of the Tamil Nadu Film Producers Council for maligning his image in February 2019. He filed the case after the director of the film Adhik Ravichandran and Rayappan alleged that the film did not perform well at the box office because the actor failed to cooperate with the makers during the shoot. They also cited that Simbu had forced them to do the film as a two-part project.
In response, Simbu alleged that the producer and director have defamed and tainted his image and credibility in the industry. The TFPC president, actor Vishal intervened to resolve the issue amicably. Simbu claimed that the producer failed to pay him his dues for acting in the film, but Rayappan sought compensation from TFPC for the massive losses incurred. Simbu also moved the Madras High Court to file a defamation case against the makers. Simbu moved the court to order Rayappan to settle Rs 1 crore as compensation for the mental agony he allegedly went through during the shoot.
Meanwhile, Simbu was last seen in the time-loop based Tamil political thriller Maanaadu. Helmed by Venkat Prabhu, the film starred actor Kalyani Priyadarshan as the female lead, while SJ Suryah was roped in as the antagonist. The film opened to positive responses from audiences and critics alike. Maanaadu hit the big screens on November 25 last year and subsequently released on Over-the-Top (OTT) platform Sony LIV.
Simbu has Gautham Menon’s upcoming flick Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu in the pipeline. Bankrolled by Ishari K Ganesh and Ashwin Kumar under the production banner of Vels Film International, the movie has music by award-winning composer AR Rahman. Simbu, Gautham Vasudev Menon and AR Rahman have previously worked together in movies such as Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa and Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada.