MUMBAI: Prakash Jha’s Aarakshan has been courting a lot of controversies lately. The Madras High Court has stayed the worldwide release of the movie for non-payment of dues to a financier.

The movie, which stars Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Manoj Bajpai, Deepika Padukone and Pratiek Babbar, is slated to release on 12 August.

Aarakshan has been co-produced by Jha and Firoz A Nadiadwala.

The court stayed the movie release in a case filed by Madhu Gupta and GG Photo for non-payment of Rs 37.5 million (Rs 3.75 crore), which is unpaid by the movie producer.

Aarakshan is based on the caste-based reservation policy in India.