Suriya-Mohanlal Starrer Kaappaan Faces Plagiarism Charges, Film Writer John Charles Claims KV Anand Directorial Is Based on His Story Saravedi

The upcoming action thriller, Kaappaan, is directed by KV Anand. The film stars Suriya, Mohanlal, husband-and-wife duo Arya and Sayyeshaa in the lead roles. The film is scheduled to be released on September 20, but weeks before it the film has run into a controversy. According to leading media reports, Kaappaan is copied from film writer John Charles’ story, Saravedi. The writer has claimed that he had narrated the story to the film’s director in the beginning of this year, but never received any response after it. On August 20 John Charles filed a petition against KV Anand’s Kaappaan, filing a petition on plagiarism.

As per a report in The News Minute, John Charles claims that he had copyright over the script since 2016. The Madras High Court heard the petition filed by the film writer. In the petition filed by John Charles it stated that when he watched the film’s teaser he realised that it was similar to his story which he had narrated to KV Anand in January 2017. The report also suggests that on September 20, 2016, Charles presented the story for copyrights registration at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in Delhi and that the title Saravedi was registered in 2017.

Kaappaan Faces Plagiarism Charges

According to the report by TNM, John Charles has sought interim injunction on the release of Kaappaan, produced under the banners of Lyca Productions. The film writer has also urged to the court to issue an order to the makers of Kaappaan of not only displaying his name as the film’s writer but also to pay him copyright fees. The next hearing on this case is scheduled for September 4, 2019.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 27, 2019 08:49 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).