Sudeep's 'Kotigobba 3' in trouble, release stayed by court amid Polish crew's allegations

Fans of ‘Kichcha’ Sudeep have been waiting for the release of Kotigobba 3 for some time, and the wait is only set to get longer. The Kannada film has been reportedly grappling with a financial dispute amid a crew in Poland alleging non-payment of dues. In the latest development, the release of the action film has been stayed by a Mumbai court over the allegations by the Polish crew.

Poland crew alleges non-payment of dues against Sudeep starrer

The shooting of Kotigobba 3 had been started in 2018, but the movie is yet to see the light of the day after the initial April 30, 2020 release was pushed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the trouble for the makers had started much before. The cast and crew had shot for a 10-day schedule in Poland in October 2019, but there has been a dispute since then over the settlement of dues between producer Soorappa Babu, Ajay Pal, who handled the operations of the shoot in Poland and Studio Agart, that was hired by Pal to co-ordinate with the Polish crew.

As per reports, the Polish crew has alleged that dues to the tune of approximately Rs 90 lakh, which is being stated as close to 30 per cent of the total amount, are pending. They claimed that because of the dues, they could not pay their actors, extras, transportation company, the company that managed chase drones and its technicians, while payments for arrangements like office space and action equipment had not been made.

Producer Soorappa Babu had reportedly stated earlier that he had paid Rs 3 crore towards the payments to the Polish crew, and that the dispute was beween Ajay Pal and the Polish crew. Pal, however, claimed that the Polish crew had overcharged them on certain invoices and those had been blocked for payments.   

As per reports, the producers were even asked to delete potions involving the actors and shots from the Poland shoot and only then upload the video in March earlier this year.

Kotigobba 3 has been directed by Shiva Karthik. Apart from Sudeep, the movie also stars Madonna Sebastian and Shraddha Das.