A Kerala court, on Friday stayed the release of the Prithviraj Sukumaran-starrer Kaduva, based on a plea filed by Jose Kuruvinakkunnel also known as Kuruvinakkunnel Kuruvachan, a businessman and planter based in Pala who said that the central character of the film is based on him, Bar and Bench reported.
Produced by Prithiviraj’s home banner Prithviraj Productions and Listin Stephen‘s Magic Frames Company, Kaduva is written by Jinu V Abraham and directed by Shaji Kailas.
While the film had been courting controversy for various reasons since 2020, in the recent development, Jose Kuruvinakkunnel filed a suit through advocate Reji George requesting a stay against Kaduva’s release. According to the petitioner, the protagonist in the screenplay ‘Kaduvakunnel Kuruvachan’ and the central character of the film ‘Kaduva’, is based on him and his life. The petitioner said that the release of the film “would cause irreparable injury” to him.
His plea was heard by the Second Additional Sub Judge of Ernakulam. Based on the plea, a notice was issued to the makers of the film including Jinu Varghese Abraham, Listin Stephen, Supriya Menon and Shaji Kailas. The judge noted this as a prima facie and ordered a temporary stay on the release of the film, its teasers, trailers and all promotional content on all platforms including OTT and theatres.
“If the impugned cinema is telecast or screened even for a moment the same will case irreparable injury and hardships to the petitioner. Therefore, it is just and proper to grand an Ad Interim Injunction in favour of the petitioner. Resultantly an Ad Interim Injunction is granted restraining the respondents, their men and agents from publishing the screenplay Kaduvakkunnel Kuruvachan and releasing the movie Kaduva in full or in parts or its trailer, teasers or songs, or by changing its name, in theatres or any other media or OTT platform or social media pages etc, in audio or video form until further orders,” the judge observed.
As per the report, Kuruvachan had a long-standing and infamous conflict with IPS Officer Joseph Thomas, which started with a seemingly innocuous donation of a musical instrument to the parish church.
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The petitioner noted that through advertisements and personal enquiries, he learnt that actor Prithviraj plays the lead role based on the former’s life. He added that the central character of the film is portrayed as a person who takes law into his own hands to settle the score with his opponents and as someone that is more a villain than a hero.
“In substance, ‘Kaduvakunnel Kuruvachan’ is depicted a person having the character of a local goonda who picks up fights on the streets and in public places,” the lawsuit said.
It also alleged that the film and script contain dramatisation of incidents that are eerily identical to those from the petitioner’s life and as such, anyone watching the film would be able to easily identify that the central character was portraying him. He further said that the film would also damage the reputation and dignity of his wife and family.