Popularity breeds legal hassles goes the modified saying...
Rajinikanth's Sivaji, the film that is having a record run, is charged with a complaint regarding ownership of story.
Assistant Director A. Elangovan, claiming to be the true author of the story, has filed a suit seeking a restraint on everyone involved in the making of the movie from audio, video, overseas release rights, dubbing and remaking of Sivaji.
Elangovan's story of the story is:
Elangovan claims he conceived an interesting storyline and sent it for consideration to director Shankar (the producer of Sivaji) on 12 October, 2005 through registered post. Elangovan got an immediate refusal mailed back to him, but to his dismay, the original manuscript was replaced by blank sheets of paper.
Elangovan was more annoyed when he found his lost story running in theatres as Sivaji, with the credits of story and screenplay going to Shankar.
Elangovan has now sought legal help in establishing his original rights over the story. Whether he is telling the truth remains to be seen.
However, the 13th Assistant City Civil Court Judge A. Nazeer Ahmed ordered notice, returnable by 21 September, to Rajinikanth, Shankar, director and producer of the movie.
It should be noted that Sivaji's story follows the line of director Shankar's earlier movies like Anniyan and Indian, where the agitated hero rises against the evils and bad practices in society, the war of good over evil.
(You may recollect that when another person sought a stay on the screening of Sivaji, the learned judge observed that when practically everybody had seen the film, there would be no useful purpose served by banning it. Today, when the film is approaching 100 days, the same remark can be made again.)
On the other hand, it's odd that the writer reportedly recieved blank papers in place of his script; any fraudster would have copied the original and sent it back.
Watch this space at Galatta.com for fresh updates.
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