Kochi: The dispute over the title of the upcoming Malayalam movie titled ‘Higuita’ is all set to witness a legal battle. Kerala Film Chamber, which invited the filmmakers for a discussion on Tuesday to solve the issue, failed to yield results.
Director Hemanth G Nair had recently announced the release date of his film ‘Higuita’, inviting a protest from noted writer N S Madhavan, who is the author of a legendary short story bearing the same title. Soon, Madhavan wrote to the Film Chamber mentioning his objections.
According to Madhavan, the film had much in common with the name as well as plot of his short story.
On receiving the writer’s letter, the Film Chamber directed the filmmakers not to use the title ‘Higuita.’ The Chamber also suggested to the filmmakers to hold a discussion with Madhavan to settle the matter.
Subsequently, Chamber office-bearers met the filmmakers on Tuesday. During the talks, the filmmakers were told that the Chamber would allow use of the title ‘Higuita’ if they approached Madhavan and obtained the necessary permission from him.
However, the filmmakers rejected this proposal and announced that they would be moving the court against the Film Chamber’s decision.
Film Chamber office-bearers who took part in the discussion with the filmmakers included general secretary B R Jacob, secretary Anil Thomas, registration committee convener S S T Subrahmaniam and member Ananda Kumar.
