A Germany-based Malayali author has sent a legal notice to the makers of the upcoming Malayalam film Barroz - The Guardian of D'Gama's Treasure, alleging copyright infringement. The complainant, George Thundiparambil, has claimed that there is “uncanny similarity” between the novel by acclaimed filmmaker Jijo Punnoose — on which Barroz is supposedly based — and his own novel from 2008, Maya.
Barroz is the first film to be directed by Malayalam superstar Mohanlal, who will also star in it. The script has been handled by director TK Rajeevkumar, after Jijo Punnoose said he was no longer in charge of it. The film is expected to release on September 12, just ahead of the Onam season. However, George’s legal notice – sent to Jijo, Mohanlal, TK Rajeev Kumar, and producer Antony Perumbavoor – has asked them to desist from releasing the film until they clear the copyright issues.
George’s book Maya was released by writer-politician Shashi Tharoor in Kochi in April 2008. The book is themed around a popular myth in Fort Kochi about a demigod called Kappiri Muthappan. He is believed to be the spirit of an African slave, who was entrusted with guarding his Portuguese enslaver’s treasures until his descendant came from Portugal.
George acknowledges in his legal notice that the myth of Kappiri Muthappan is a popular one and not copyrighted. “However, George’s utilisation and expression of this mythical idea into a storyline is unique in that the eighteen-year-old girl viz. Maya, who brings to life an abstract mythical opposite of Kappiri as the heiress of the treasure and fulfils the very existence of Kappiri, is the only person who can see Kappiri with naked eyes on normal days. The ability to see him, communicate with him and interact with him, in turn, becomes the key signal for Kappiri to recognise her as the heiress of the treasure he guards,” the notice explains, adding that this storyline is copyright-protected.
George argues that the theme of Barroz, announced years after his book came out, appeared strikingly similar to his novel. The film is based on a novel by Jijo Punnoose, a few chapters of it have been published online on the website of his production group Navodaya. George claims that he could not find such a novel anywhere on the market, and that from the published chapters he found many points similar to his book Maya, including the presence of a girl character who could see the ghost.
Jijo Punnoose, who is the director of the first 3D film in Malayalam My Dear Kuttichathan among others, has not been active in films for years. Barroz was initially meant to be scripted by him, based on a book he wrote in 2017 about an Afro-Indian-Portuguese myth. However, he later announced that it was no longer his script and that “the present form” was rewritten from his script by Mohanlal with the help of director TK Rajeev Kumar.
George, in his notice, says that a friend had taken a copy of his book Maya to Rajeev Kumar in 2016, with the idea of adapting the story to a film. He was told that the idea would then be taken up with Jijo Punnoose. George did not learn what came out of it, he says.