The Madras High Court has ordered the attachment of a portion of late Tamil cinema legend Sivaji Ganesan’s bungalow in Chennai over a financial dispute involving his grandson, actor RG Dusshyanth, and his wife, Abirami Dusshyanth.

The house is located in the heart of Chennai on South Boag Road in T Nagar in Chennai. The road is also known as Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan Road – in honour of the thespian and is an integral part of the south Indian film industry.  A fourth of the sprawling 53,240 sq. ft. property totally valued at Rs 88.50 crore has now been marked as encumbered.

The dispute stems from a Rs 3.74 crore loan taken by their company, Eesan Productions, for the production of the Tamil film Jagajaala Killadi.

The loan, borrowed from a private enterprise, was to be repaid with 30% annual interest. However, after non-payment, retired Justice T Ravindran was appointed as an arbitrator. On May 4, 2024, he ruled that Eesan Productions must repay ₹9.02 crore and directed that the rights to Jagajaala Killadi be sold to recover the amount. When the production company claimed the film was incomplete and refused to transfer rights, the private enterprise approached the court seeking alternative recovery measures.

Justice Abdul Quddhose, hearing the case, ordered the attachment of Ramkumar Ganesan’s one-fourth share of the bungalow, located on South Boag Road (now Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan Road) in T Nagar, Chennai. The court’s directive follows multiple failed mediation attempts and the absence of a counter-affidavit from the actor’s family. The petitioner enterprise valued the entire 53,240 sq. ft. property at Rs 88.50 crore, estimating Ramkumar’s share at Rs 22.15 crore—sufficient to cover the outstanding dues.

The court has directed the sub-registrar to mark 13,310 sq. ft. of the property as encumbered. With the case adjourned to March 5, the legal battle over the legendary actor’s estate continues, highlighting financial troubles within his family’s film production venture.