Madras High Court issues notice to Kamal Haasan

Chennai: Kamal Haasan is in a spot yet again, years after his 'Vishwaroopam-1' gave him a tough time. The sequel 'Vishwaroopam-2' is due to release on August 10, but Haasan faces trouble from a production company: it has taken Haasan to court over unpaid dues of Rs 7.75 crore.

The Madras High Court on Friday directed the actor-turned-politician to file his reply by August 6 to the petition filed by 'Pyramid Saimira', a movie production company. The court issued a notice to the actor asking him to reply by August 6, the next date for the hearing.

'Pyramid Saimira' has alleged that Kamal Haasan owed it Rs.7.75 crore. The company says the dues cannot be recovered from the actor if 'Vishwaroopam-2' is allowed to release.

According to the company, it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Raaj Kamal Films International -- Kamal Haasan is one of the partners -- for joint production of a Tamil movie 'Marmayogi'. As per the MoU, Kamal Haasan had agreed to play a lead role in 'Marmayogi', pen the story, screenplay and dialogues.

It is alleged that Pyramid Saimira paid Kamal Haasan Rs.10.9 crore in two instalments. The production company accused the actor of diverting the money for producing another of his movie.