A district court in Kerala stayed the release of the Malayalam film Mohanlal, starring Manju Warrier and Indrajith.
The complaint has been filed by director-screenwriter Kalavoor Ravikumar against the film which is scripted by Suneesh Varanad and directed by Sajid Yahia.
In his complaint, Ravikumar has alleged that the original story belongs to him and it was taken from him without his consent. He said that it is based on the short story Mohanlaline Enikkippol Bhayankara Pediyanu written by him. The complainant also demanded 25 per cent of the film’s profit, reported The Hindu.
The Thrissur Additional District Court read the screenplay before the proceedings of the case. The ruling also said that the movie shouldn’t be released in feature format or as a short film before the final verdict is passed.
Recommended
Kalvoor Ravikumar, who scripted almost 15 films, has also directed three movies. He stated that he has already filed a petition with the FEFKA raising the same issue, even before the shooting of the film began. He wrote the story back in 2005 and printed the first edition of the book in 2006 and second edition in 2012. The story deals with the life of a woman who is a die-hard fan of actor Mohanlal.
Ravikumar’s name isn’t there in the credits and he was promised a rightful amount of money for the copyright of the story.
Earlier, the director of the film had written a post on Facebook denying the plagiarism charges.