"Manichitrathazhu" Hindi remake kicks up row

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 15: Controversies are not new in filmdom when it comes to copyright and plagiarism.

Presently, it is ''Manichitrathazhu'', a super hit Malayalam film, that is raked up in controversy over its copyright as the original author Madhu Muttom taking the issue to court over remaking of the film in Hindi.

Talking to mediapersons here today, Mr Madhu said he would file a suit against Director Priyadarshan and Producer T-Series for using the story without his knowledge or prior permission.

''I am forced to file a suit against Mr Priyadarshan and T-Series for making the Hindi version of ''Manichitrathazhu'' called ''Dhol'' without my permission as the story, screenplay and dialogues of the film were penned by me,'' he added.

Mr Madhu said he had filed similar suits, when it was remade in Tamil as ''Chandramukhi'' and in Kannada as ''Aapthamitra'' and the Kerala High Court after considering his petition allowed his authorship.

The case was still pending before the court for final disposal, he added.

Even though Mr Priyadarshan and the producer had accepted the legal notice, he said no reply was received.

''I have no other option than to approach the court to get justice,'' he said.

However, Mr Appachan, producer of ''Manichitrathzhu'' told UNI over phone from Kozhikode that Mr Madhu had no right over the story as he was already paid for his work.

Mr Appachan also added that he had already sold its rights to the T-Series immediatly after releasing the Tamil version ''Chandramukhi'' and Mr Madhu had no right or claim over it.

Kerala Film Producers Association Secretary N Krishnakumar said in film industry the story writer's role would finish when the story was handed over to the producer after accepting the remuneration.

The producer have all the rights to sell the story to anybody according to his choice and the original writer could never question it.

''Manichitrathazhu'', the super hit movie directed by Fazil and Mohanlal in lead role in 1994 was later remade in Tamil as ''Chandramukhi'' with Rajinikanth in the lead. In Kannada it was titled as ''Aptamithra'' with Vishnuvardhan in the lead role.

All the movies were box office hits.

The Hindi version ''Dhol'' , which Priyadarshan plans to direct, would have Akshay Kumar, Vidhya Balan and Sunil Shetty in the lead roles.

UNI