A case has been registered with the Hyderabad police against Tollywood producer Dil Raju and four others under the Copy Rights Act on Saturday.
The case was registered after a writer, Shyamala Rani, filed a petition with the Miyapur court, alleging that the makers of the 2011 movie Mr Perfect, lifted material from her 2010 novel.
The Deccan Chronicle quoted Shyamala saying that she had published a novel, 'Na Manasu Ninnu Kore', which was allegedly made into a movie, without permission for using her story, which amounted to cheating.
The DC report adds that the Madhapur police registered a case against the distributor of the film, Dil Raju, producer, co-producers Sirish and Lakshman, director K Dasarath and dialogue writer Abburi Ravi.
The Times of India reported that she offered to sell her story to several Tollywood directors, but none of them showed interest, until she saw the 2011 film and realised that there were many similarities between the book and the movie, in the dialogues and scenes.
“While I was watching 'Mr Perfect' in 2013 on television, I found several dialogues and scenes were copied from my novel," ToI quoted her as saying.
However, it is interesting to note that the writer has only registered a case now, and not earlier.
The Madhapur police said that the case booked the accused under sections 120 b (conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Dil Raju is one of the biggest producers-distributors in Tollywood, and has already had a great year, bagging projects like Shatamanam Bhavathi, Nenu Local and Fidaa.
Moreover, he has acquired the rights of the three most anticipated films in Tollywood this year, and they are Mahesh Babu’s Spyder, Jr NTR’s Jai Lava Kusa and Pawan Kalyan’s untitled film.
He is also the producer of Ravi Teja’s upcoming Raja the Great.