Vineeth Sreenivasan (L) and PrithvirajThodupuzha: The fate of two films, starring Prithviraj and Vineeth Sreenivasan respectively, will be decided by the court as a controversy has erupted over the copyright of the story, which is based on the life of a differently-abled man in Thodupuzha.
Pradeep N. Nair, a journalist, had announced the film titled Vimanam, with Prithviraj in the lead. The film was based on Saji Thomas, a deaf and dumb man here who created an aircraft and made it fly. Pradeep had already secured the right from Saji Thomas in writing to make his life into a biopic.
However, the row emerged after ad filmmaker Sreekanth Murali too started making a film, written by scenarist Santhosh Echikkanam, on a similar theme with Vineeth Sreenivasan as the hero.
Nair alleged that the film written by Santhosh Echikkanam had close similarities with Vimanam. He filed a complaint with FEFKA, which tried to broker peace, in vain. So Nair and team decided to move the courts seeking a solution. A petition will be filed in the Thodupuzha Munsiff Court alleging violation of copyright.
Meanwhile, Echikkanam claimed that his film had no resemblance, whatsoever, with the life of Saji Thomas. He said that his protagonist was not physically challenged and that it's a story of an ordinary man who created an aircraft, among several other things.
