On 14 April Ranveer Singh announced that he will be starring in the Bollywood remake of the hit Tamil film Anniyan, which would be directed by filmmaker S. Shankar. Just a day later Anniyan's producer ‘Aascar' V Ravichandran sent a letter claiming he bought the full rights of the story from writer Sujatha.
In the letter addressed to Shankar, he expressed his 'shock' upon hearing the news of the remake and wrote, "I am utterly shocked to know, that you are likely to undertake the Direction of a Hindi film by adopting the story of the movie Anniyan. You are well aware of the fact that, I am the Producer of the said movie Anniyan. (sic)"
He further claimed that he is the 'sole owner' of the story's rights and has the necessary records of payment for the same. "The entire story rights was purchased by me from the writer Sujatha (alias late Rangarajan) for which full payment was done by me to him and necessary records are also available. I am the whole and sole owner of the rights of the storyline. A such, any such adoption or remaking or copying the main plot of the same movie, without my permission, is totally illegal. (sic)"
According to the letter, Shankar did not inform Aascar that he would be at the helm of Hindi remake, adding that he (Aascar) gave Shankar the opportunity to direct Anniyan which helped him 'regain lost ground' after the failure of his last film 'Boys'. "It is a sorry state of affairs that you have conveniently forgotten the same and without even informing me, you have tried to reap the accolades of my successful movie Anniyan by associating yourself and adaptation of Hindi version of the same. I am sure you always maintain certain ethical value, hence I wonder how you can stoop to a low level by resorting to such unlawful acts, (sic)" the letter read.
"You are hereby advised to immediately stop proceeding any further on the same, due to the illegal copying of the story line for which the entire rights are held by me, (sic)" he concluded. He also wrote that a legal notice will follow the letter.
Anniyan is a Tamil psychological thriller written and directed by S. Shankar while the dialogues are credited to writer Sujatha. The movie follows the life of a disillusioned man who has multiple personality disorder, played by Vikram. One of the personalities is Anniyan, a murderous vigilante. The original was dubbed in French, in Telugu as Aparichithudu, and in Hindi as Aparichit.
In a 2005 interview with The Hindu, Shankar spoke about the film and said that he aimed to 'solve the inherent weakness within our society' with the film to enable us to 'move forward like other nations'.
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