When Lingusamy revealed how Kamal Haasan’s constant script changes turned Uttama Villain into a financial setback

In throwback revelation, director-producer Lingusamy shed light on the chaos that unfolded during the making of Uttama Villain. Speaking to veteran journalist Chithra Lakshmanan on the YouTube channel Touring Talkies, Lingusamy called Kamal Haasan a phenomenal artist but admitted that producing a film for him came at a steep cost, both creatively and financially.According to Lingusamy, the biggest challenge was Kamal’s relentless script changes. “We wanted something emotionally powerful, like Devar Magan or Apoorva Sagodharargal. Kamal sir initially pitched a compelling story about a man rescuing his brother—a role that Siddharth was supposed to play. But he kept rewriting the script almost every week,” Lingusamy said, admitting that while this unpredictable style had worked for Kamal in the past, it left his production house, Thirrupathi Brothers, gasping for stability.Despite entering a written agreement where Kamal promised to compensate by doing another film on a modest budget of ₹30 crore, Lingusamy said the damage had already been done. “I was completely involved and invested in this film. But when you’re footing the bill and the vision keeps shifting, it’s hard to hold things together,” he said.

He further revealed that he and co-producer Subhas Chandra Bose had plans to remake the Malayalam hit Drishyam.

“We showed the film to Kamal sir, hoping he would lead it, but he turned it down—only to later do it with another production house,” Lingusamy said, hinting at a sense of betrayal.When it came to the post-production process, Lingusamy claimed he did his best to steer the project back on track by suggesting changes after watching rough cuts. “He agreed, but none of the suggestions were incorporated. In the end, he just told me to go ahead and release it,” he added.The matter resurfaced again when a YouTube channel, Valaipechu, claimed that Uttama Villain was a profitable venture. Thirrupathi Brothers quickly issued a sharp rebuttal on their official X (formerly Twitter) handle:“A false claim about Lingusamy saying Uttama Villain was a profitable film was made on YouTube channel Valaipechu. This is highly condemnable. We request everyone not to spread false information on the internet.”While Kamal Haasan’s brilliance as an artist is undisputed, Uttama Villain stands as a cautionary tale of how creative freedom without boundaries can sometimes derail even the most promising of films.