Here's why Lingusamy filed a complaint against Kamal Haasan

Filmmaker Lingusamy has filed a complaint against Tamil superstar Kamal Haasan at the Tamil Film Producer Council. According to reports, in his complaint, Lingusamy has accused Kamal of not honouring his past commitments.

The Tamil producers' council is yet to respond to Lingusamy's complaint.

Why is Lingusamy upset with Kamal Haasan?

For the uninitiated, Lingusamy bankrolled Kamal Haasan's "Uttama Villain." As per Lingusamy's account, he approached Kamal to play the lead role in the Tamil remake of the Malayalam blockbuster "Drishyam" for his production banner Thirrupathi Brothers.

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However, Kamal turned down the offer and instead expressed interest in doing an original movie under Lingusamy's production. According to Lingusamy, Kamal first promised to do an action movie. But later, he decided to make a philosophical-heavy, meta-movie "Uttama Villain."

Lingusamy's brother Subash Chandra Bose, one of the founders of Thirrupathi Brothers, was not fully happy about it. But Lingusamy was not ready to miss the opportunity to work with Kamal, whom he holds in high regard.

Lingusamy had only one request for Kamal. "I told Kamal sir that I would not interfere in his work, and he could make the film the way he wanted. But I told him after completing the movie, I would watch it and suggest changes to the final edit that he needs to accommodate," recalled Lingusamy.

After watching the final cut, Lingusamy gave a list of changes that he believed would make the movie better. "If he (Kamal) had made those changes, that film might have turned out to be a good one. He heard all my suggestions and agreed to make the changes to the edit, but he didn't do it," he revealed.

Eventually, Kamal convinced Lingusamy to release the original cut of "Uttama Villain."

The story of "Uttama Villain"

"Uttama Villain" is a densely packed, highly nuanced tale that narrates the dark side of fame. Written by Kamal Haasan, the film was helmed by Ramesh Aravind. Besides writing the film, Kamal also played the lead role. When the movie opened in cinemas, it garnered mixed reviews and failed at the box office.

Lingusamy revealed that he incurred significant financial losses because of "Uttama Villain." He claimed that his company hadn't fully recovered from the setback, upending other projects he had planned.

Lingusamy also expressed displeasure after Kamal acted in "Papanasam," a Tamil remake of "Drishyam," immediately after "Uttama Villain" for a different production banner. "Papanasam" went on to become one of the highest-grossing Tamil films of 2015.

Lingusamy claimed that Kamal promised that he would act in a movie for his production house within the budget of Rs 30 crore to help him recover the losses. However, it has not happened yet, prompting Lingusamy to initiate action.