Varun's stance validated, AR Murugadoss agrees to thank him in 'Sarkar' credits

The Sarkar plagiarism row that had raised a question mark on the film’s Deepavali release has ended with AR Murugadoss coming around to thanking writer Varun Rajendran in the credits. This move suggests that Varun Rajendran had indeed gone to court with a valid claim.

The following message will reportedly be displayed for 30 seconds after the thanks card appears in Sarkar. Varun's lawyer Purushothaman confirmed the same to TNM.

Film director A.R. Murugadoss agrees to display the following message for 30 seconds in the Vijay starrer #Sarkar immediately after the thanks card ⁦@the_hindu⁩ pic.twitter.com/k1PTRUergI

— Mohamed Imranullah S (@imranhindu) October 30, 2018

With the uncertainty clearing up, the film will be releasing this Deepavali on November 6.

Speaking to the media, Varun said that his intention was not to get the film banned but to make sure he got his due credits.

“I am very happy that they’re validating my contribution. I dedicate my story to Vijay and SA Chandrasekar sir’s family,” he said. The exact terms of this agreement are yet to be revealed.

Varun had filed a complaint first with the South Indian Film Writers' Association, and then later filed a petition with the Madras High Court, requesting for a ban on the film’s release until he’s given his due credits along with a remuneration of Rs 30 lakh for his story.

Director AR Murugadoss and his team had maintained until Monday that Sarkar was not based on Varun’s Sengol. The director even hit back at K Bhagyaraj, President of South Indian Film Writers' Association, for corroborating Varun’s claims.

Speaking to the media outside the court, Bhagyaraj on Tuesday said that it was unfortunate that both Murugadoss and Varun had come up with the same storyline at different points in time. He also observed that striking a compromise at this point would prove to be beneficial to both parties.

Meanwhile, writer B Jeyamohan, explaining about how the story of Sarkar was created, had said in an interview to Puthiyathalaimurai channel that director AR Murugadoss had approached him with a three-line story based on the premise of counterfeit voting or voter impersonation.

Writer and assistant director Varun, in his complaint, had accused that the Vijay starrer Sarkar's story is a copy of his work titled Sengol which he had registered with the Writers' Union in 2007.

Sarkar has been embroiled in controversy ever since the release of its first-look poster. The Tamil Nadu Health Department had issued a notice to the producer, director and actor of the film for the violation of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act 2003.

This notice was issued in reference to the portrayal of the actor with a cigarette between his lips on the posters and teaser of the movie.

Sarkar is directed by AR Murugadoss and bankrolled by Kalanithi Maran under his banner Sun Pictures. Oscar-winning music composer AR Rahman has scored the music for this film with lyricist Vivek penning the lyrics, Girish Gangadharan wielding the camera and A Sreekar Prasad editing it.