The Madras High Court on Monday heard a petition filed by writer A John Charles who has claimed rights to the story of the Suriya and Mohanlal starrer Kappaan, directed by KV Anand.
The Chrompet-based writer said in his petition that he wrote the script to a film of sharing of river water and farmer’s welfare, titled ‘Saravedi’, and registered it in 2016. According to a report by The Hindu, he claimed that he first narrated the story to director KS Ravikumar, who was not able to make the film due to his busy schedule, and in January 2017, he approached KV Anand with the script and was awaiting a response.
John is a business graduate and writer who has been involved in the film and TV industry for over a decade and has connections among directors and producers. He said that he watched the teaser to the film earlier this month and found similarities between Suriya’s character and the hero of his story, who is a reporter and asks the prime minister the same questions on river linking that Suriya asks in the teaser.
The petitioner has demanded an interim stay on the film’s release, scheduled for September 20, and asked the makers to buy the copyright from him and credit him as the writer. The court has adjourned the case for further hearing on September 4.
Kaappaan is the latest film with a big star to face plagiarism charges, after Bigil, which was cleared of all charges recently, and Sarkar, starring Vijay.
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The film currently credits Pattukkottai Prabakar as the writer. He is a crime and thriller novelist who also wrote the story of Imaikka Nodigal, Samurai, Kandaen Kadhalai among other films.
The teaser to the political thriller sees Suriya playing multiple characters including a bomber, a government officer and a farmer who all question the government. Mohanlal plays a PM, Boman Irani is a politician, Sayyesshaa is an agent tracking Suriya, and Arya plays her lover.
The film was recently reportedly cleared for release with a U/A certificate. Music is by Harris Jayaraj, cinematography is by Abhinandan Ramanujam and MS Prabhu, editing is by Anthony. It is backed by Lyca Productions.