Who is the real producer of Vijay's Thuppakki - Dhaanu or Gemini Films?
The judgement for Thuppakki's title issue is expected to be made today. Hopefully, it will get a favorable decision. The point of this article is not about title row. But, about the ongoing confusions regarding who is the real producer of Thuppakki?
Producer Change for Thuppakki
Rewind to October last year when Thuppakki was announced, it was a Vijay's home production managed by SA Chandarashekhar. During the planning stages, there were a number of issues that cropped up with director AR Murugadoss as SAC skimped on production budget. One such example was Santhosh Sivan booked on economy-class ticket to Mumbai. Other crew members were booked on train. In addition, SAC was also breathing down AR Murugadoss' neck on the details of production cost. Due to these issues, AR Murugadoss and Santhosh Sivan almost walked out of the project. Vijay quickly intervened and changed the production responsibility to Kalaipuli Dhaanu, who had earlier paid some advance waiting to do a movie with Vijay in the future. This is how Dhaanu got a chance to become the producer of this prestigious movie by a snap decision by Vijay to save the project.
Distribution Rights Contract with Gemini Film
The twist came in the form of SAC had signed contracts with Gemini Film Circuit to sell the distribution rights on a first copy basis. Dhaanu is known for having a strong distribution network on his own was not willing to sell this movie to Gemini as this will result only in limited profit (~30% of production cost). So from day one, there has been an ongoing tussle between Dhaanu and Gemini claiming moral rights for who the real producer of Thuppakki. Even though Dhaanu's name is prominently shown on the poster, Gemini has been calling the shots on how the movie will be sold contrary to Dhaanu's opinions. Vijay has been keeping the situation under control so there is no disruption to development of the movie.
Who will fire first?
For now, Dhaanu and Gemini Film Circuit have both ready to draw the gun and shoot. If that happens, another legal tangle could potentially arise. Since Vijay has tight leash on both of them, hope it will get resolved amicably because the last thing the fans want is another legal battle or delays to the project.