3 min readNew DelhiJun 4, 2026 03:55 PM IST
Producer Kotapadi J Rajesh has opened up about the severe financial crisis that followed a string of ambitious film investments. The filmmaker, who is preparing to make his acting debut with Angikaaram, revealed that he is currently facing losses of nearly Rs 120 crore, tracing the setback to projects including Hero, Doctor and Ayalaan.
In a recent conversation with Galatta Plus, Rajesh spoke about a series of decisions that he believed would help revive his finances but instead pushed him deeper into debt. The producer explained that films such as Hero, Doctor and Ayalaan were not initially developed under his banner. He stepped in after production house 24 AM Studios encountered financial difficulties, hoping the projects would eventually help recover existing losses.
“Hero, Doctor, and Ayalaan were not originally my production projects. They belonged to 24 AM Studios, and I took them over when they faced financial issues. Sivakarthikeyan and I shared a good relationship, and I believed we could complete a few films together to recover the losses. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned, and I got stuck in the process.”
According to Kotapadi J Rajesh, he had already entered the arrangement carrying substantial debt. The plan was to offset those liabilities through a slate of films before 2020, but circumstances unfolded differently.
He said, “I entered the arrangement with an existing debt of Rs. 90 crore. We had planned to clear it through multiple projects before 2020. But today, after everything that has transpired, I am sitting with a total loss of Rs. 120 crore.”
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Why Hero failed to deliver
Rajesh also spoke about the performance of Hero, starring Sivakarthikeyan, and why the film failed to generate the returns he had expected. While he believes the film had a strong story, he felt audiences were not receptive to its approach at the time of release.
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“Hero was a major flop, even though it had a good story. At that time, people were not ready to accept that kind of film. Some felt it was similar to Gentleman, and many viewers did not like the fact that Sivakarthikeyan’s character did not fight in the movie.”
The producer further pointed to Ayalaan as another project that became financially challenging due to repeated delays. He said the original plan was to recover losses through future collaborations with Sivakarthikeyan, but mounting interest costs and a prolonged production timeline complicated matters significantly.
Pandemic delays worsened the situation
Kotapadi J Rajesh attributed much of the financial strain to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The extended halt in production and release schedules impacted multiple projects and increased the burden of debt over time.
“For Hero alone, the refund was of about Rs 30 crore. Then came the coronavirus that impacted both Doctor and Ayalaan. Everything got delayed for about three years. By the time work resumed, the interest had increased substantially,” he said.
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