The director of the French movie Largo Winch, Jerome Salle, has threatened legal action against the makers of Agnyaathavaasi for plagiarising his film.
Announcing the same on social media, the director tweeted, “Indian cinema has all the necessary talent and creativity for not having to plagiarize. And the silence from #Agnathavaasi team since one week is deafening. So let’s take action now. #LegalNotice”
Indian cinema has all the necessary talent and creativity for not having to plagiarize. And the silence from #Agnathavaasi team since one week is deafening. So let’s take action now. #LegalNotice
— Jérôme Salle (@Jerome_Salle) January 18, 2018
However, sources point out that the makers of the Pawan Kalyan starrer had paid about Rs 10 - 12 crore to T Series, which has remake rights for Largo Winch in India. But according to the French film’s director, the rights were for India only but Agnyaathavaasi was released worldwide, which means legal action is still possible.
Experts point out that the makers of Agnyaathavaasi had settled the issue with T Series and had paid for the Telugu version. If this news happens to be true, then there can be no cause for legal action.
Directed by Trivikram Srinivas, the film has Pawan Kalyan and Keerthy Suresh playing the lead pair. It also has a bevy of stars in the cast including Anu Emmanuel, Adhi Pinisetty, Boman Irani, Khushbu and other playing pivotal roles.
Agnyaathavaasi released to packed houses this Sankranthi but the mixed reviews are not working in its favour. The film’s first week worldwide distributor share is around 56.30 cr. The film’s theatrical rights were valued at 128 cr and a minimum loss of 69 cr is easily expected.
Anirudh Ravichander made his debut as music director in the Telugu film industry with this flick, with V Manikandan cranking the camera and Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao editing it. Agnyaathavaasi was produced by S Radha Krishna under his banner Haarika & Haasini Creations.
With Jerome Salle threatening legal action, it needs to be seen how this matter would be resolved. It may be noted here that the director had earlier tweeted that he would travel to India to watch the movie.