The Madras High Court on Wednesday issued a notice to superstar Rajinikanth, director Pa Ranjith, Kaala producer Wunderbar Films and the South Indian Film Actors' Association to reply to the charges made against the copyright of the film's title by February 12.
The court was hearing a PIL filed by an assistant director, Rajasekharan, who has accused the makers of the film of plagiarism. In his petition, Rajasekharan has claimed that the title Kaala Karikaalan is the title of his ambitious project which he'd planned to make with Rajinikanth in the lead role at least a decade before Kaala was announced.
In June last year, Rajasekaran of GSR Vinmeen Creations filed a case against the makers of Kaala, alleging that the title and story belonged to him. The complainant alleged that he had narrated the story of the film to the head of the Rajinikanth Fans Association, Sathyanarayana, sometime ago.
Further, Rajasekaran had said that though he got a chance to meet the Superstar after that, he was unable to narrate the story to him due to the star’s busy schedule. He claimed that he was taken aback when it was announced that Rajinikanth’s next is titled Kaala Karikalan and further added that the storyline appeared similar to his. Rajasekaran said that he then decided to take the matter to the court.
Yet another allegation that he had made is with respect to the irregularities in the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce. According to Rajasekaran, the rules pertaining to title registration at the Film Chamber are vague and the one-year period set for title renewal should be done away with as it hinders the creativity of a person. He went on to add that the Film Chamber works in favour of influential persons, not taking into account the issues faced by lesser known filmmakers like him.
The court had instructed the makers to respond to the allegations but they'd requested for more time.
Kaala was expected to release in April this year but got pushed since it would clash with Rajinikanth's 2.O.