Gautam Menon seeks time till September 31, 2026 to release Dhruva Natchathiram

Tamil film director Gautam Vasudev Menon with actor ‘Chiyaan’ Vikram during the filming of the movie Dhruva Natchathiram. | Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO Film producer-director Gautam Vasudev Menon has approached the Madras High Court again seeking extension of time to release the long-awaited ‘Chiyan’ Vikram starrer Dhruva Natchathiram. This time he has sought time till September 31, 2026 to get the movie released after solving the financial issues.Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy on Thursday (September 3, 2026) directed the High Court Registry to list the application, seeking extension of time, for hearing on September 11, 2026. The court had initially ordered the release of the movie before June 15, 2026 and then extended the timeline at Mr. Menon’s instance.The financial problems in releasing the movie stem from a theatrical distribution agreement which two investors K. Punniamoorthy and K. Premkumar had entered into with one Madan Pandy of Escape Artists Motion Pictures in March 2016 with respect to Dhanush-starrer Enai Noki Paayum Thota.A dispute arose between them over that movie and hence, arbitral proceedings were initiated. Subsequently, a compromise was reached among the parties and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in March 2018, through which Mr. Pandy gave away 50% of his rights in Dhruva Natchathiram to Mr. Punniamoorthy and Mr. Premkumar.The rights in Dhruva Natchathiram were reportedly given away to the two investors because Mr. Pandy was one of the partners in Kondaduvom Entertainment along with Mr. Menon and Reshma Ghatala. Therefore, the investors had filed a civil suit before the High Court in 2023 and obtained an interim injunction against the release of the movie.In April 2026, Justice Ramamoorthy had observed no purpose would be served in not letting the movie release for years together since not only the parties before the court but also hundreds of other actors and technicians who had worked in the movie may end up suffering because of its non-release.The judge permitted Mr. Menon to release the movie on or before June 15, 2026 and made it clear that a dedicated account should be opened in a scheduled bank in the name of Kondaduvom Entertainment for the purpose of carrying out all necessary monetary transactions required to get the movie released.He also appointed advocates M.V. Swaroop and H.S. Hredai as observers/overseers to supervise the financial transactions required to be undertaken for the release of the movie. The judge said, Mr. Menon should receive all finances, required for the release of the movie, only in the dedicated account and not into any other account.Since then, Mr. Menon had been approaching the court periodically seeking extension of time to get the movie released after clearing the hurdles. Published - September 03, 2026 11:54 pm IST