A week ahead of its release, Lingaa has been hit with yet another plagiarism case. This time, a junior writer named P Sakthivel has petitioned the Chennai Court for permanent injunction against the film’s release, alleging that the scriptwriter of Lingaa – Ponkumaran – had stolen the story-line from him. In his petition, Sakthivel claimed that he had written Uyir Anai based on the life of John Pennyquick, who built the Mullai Periyar dam. The script was registered by Sakthivel with Film and Television Producer’s Guild of South India in 2012, and also with the South Indian Film Writer’s Association on November 19 this year.
The junior writer was very interested in making a film from the script, but the project never materialised due to lack of funding. Claiming ownership over the story-line, Sakthivel requested the court to impose a stay order on the release of the film.
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The judge has served a notice to the film’s team and has asked them for a response. The case will be heard on December 9.
A month ago, a similar petition was filed by Ravi Rathinam, director of Mullaivanam 999, who also alleged that Lingaa was a direct copy of his script. Interestingly, both Uyir Anai and Mullaivanam 999 are based on the life of Pennyquick. The case filed by Rathinam was dismissed recently, and the Lingaa team is upbeat that similar judgement will be passed in this case as well.