The Madras High Court has issued notice to the makers of Valimai, directing them to respond to the suit of a producer named J Jayakrishnan alleging that several portions of the Ajith Kumar-starrer have been copied from his 2016 Tamil film Metro.
After a long wait, Valimai was released in theatres in February. Written and directed by H Vinoth, and backed by Boney Kapoor, the action film features Ajith as a cop trying to break down a drug and chain snatching racket run using unemployed youth. The film, which opened to mixed reviews, was praised for its bike stunts.
Metro is a 2016 action film, directed by Ananda Krishnan and featuring actors Shirish, Bobby Simha, and Sendrayan. It also deals with topics such as unemployment, chain snatching and drugs. Metro was produced by Jayakrishnan and Ananda Krishnan.
Jayakrishnan has now moved the Madras High Court alleging that Valimai is a copy of Metro.
In his suit, the producer claimed that Metro had introduced a new plot to the Tamil film industry, connecting the themes of unemployment, chain snatching, and drug racket. He added that his film narrated its story in a “very unique and authentic” way, and said its “storytelling, character selections, and related emotional ingredients made the movie a huge success.” He further noted that the film is currently exclusively available on an OTT platform with a “huge viewership.”
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The Metro producer said that he had received calls and messages recently from people who told him that Valimai had several elements lifted from his film. “After that, I saw the movie and came to the conclusion that substantial portions of Valimai, its characters, their emotions, the sequential arrangement of the plot, and crucial emotional ingredients, are all derived from the story of Metro,” he added.
He also noted that many film reviews and the general public too were of the opinion that Valimai is a substantial copy of Metro.
Jayakrishnan further alleged that the makers of Valimai had made some cosmetic additions and modifications in order to avoid legal trouble.
In his lawsuit, the producer has demanded Rs 1 crore as compensation from Kapoor and Vinoth.
The High Court admitted Jayakrishnan’s suit on Friday and directed the producer and director of Valimai to respond to the allegations levelled against them by March 17.
The makers of the Ajith-starrer have so far not reacted publicly to the allegations.