The Madras High Court has directed filmmaker Gautham Vasudev Menon to pay Rs 4.25 crore along with 12 percent annual interest to production company R.S. Infotainment, closing an 18-year-old dispute over an unmade Tamil film project. The verdict came on March 23, 2026, when a Division Bench comprising Justices P. Velmurugan and K. Govindarajan Thilakavadi dismissed an appeal filed by Menon and his production house Photon Factory.
The dispute involves a film agreement signed on November 27, 2008, between R.S. Infotainment and Photon Factory to produce a Tamil film, referred to as "production no. 6." The project was supposed to begin on December 10, 2008, and be completed by April 5, 2009, with a total investment of Rs 13.5 crore. However, R.S. Infotainment released only Rs 4.25 crore, and the film never went on floors.
Gautham Vasudev Menon argued that the producer had not paid the full amount and that the project eventually took shape as the 2012 film Neethaane En Ponvasantham. However, the court found that Neethaane En Ponvasantham was made under a separate agreement signed in 2011 and that there was no proof that the Rs 4.25 crore was used for that film.
The court ruled that the original agreement was never honoured, and the money taken had not been properly accounted for. As a result, Menon and his firm were ordered to repay Rs 4.25 crore with 12 percent interest from May 2010, along with litigation costs of around Rs 12 lakh. The ruling marks a significant legal setback for Gautham Menon, who continues to stay active in the industry. His recent project Dominic and the Ladies' Purse, starring Mammootty, has received positive feedback after its OTT release.