Lingaa producer Rockline Venkatesh emerges victorious in battle for Lingaa script!

Producer says he won’t exact revenge by suing the director who had filed a suit against the Lingaa team!

A tenaciously fought battle to prove ownership of the story on which the Rajinikanth-starrer Linga was made has finally ended with the court dismissing a suit filed against the filmmakers by director K R RaviRathinam, who, in his petition, had alleged that the makers had stolen the story from his film Mullaivanam 999.

Choosing to address a press conference after the court ruling, Producer Rockline Venkatesh, who literally had to go through hell to get the film released on time in 2014, and Director K S Ravi Kumar, who was under immense pressure because of the suits being filed at the very last minute just before the film’s release, said they were announcing this to the media now because they wanted to set the record straight.

“When a baseless allegation was levelled, the media took it across to the public. It left an impression that our credentials were questionable. The reason we are informing this now is because back then in 2014, we were working on a tight schedule. We wanted to release Lingaa for Rajini’s birthday and we didn’t have time to counter this allegation properly. But this was an issue that caused a lot of heartburn and emotional distress.

“We check if a story is registered with the Writer’s Union and only then pick it up. This was indeed Pon Kumaran’s story. It was inspired by Penny Cuick’s life. The person who had filed this plea against us has unconditionally withdrawn his plea now and therefore the court has dismissed the petition. The final verdict came just a couple of days ago.

“I wish the Writer’s Association had more powers so that such situations that cause a lot of distress to filmmakers can be avoided. There should be a system to screen the veracity of such complaints before they go to court. They can go to court after the Writers’ Association agrees with their claim. Otherwise, it results in a lot of hardship for filmmakers. In our case, the court had ruled that if the film was to release, the producer would have to deposit Rs 10 crores with the court registrar. Imagine, how difficult it would be for a producer, who is on the verge of releasing his film, to churn up Rs 10 crores in a matter of hours?”

“Now, after five years, we stand vindicated. The court has given us a clean chit. We have called this press conference so that you will now take this information too to the public and make it known that the story of Lingaa is truly ours,” director K S Ravikumar said.

Producer Rockline Venkatesh, who spoke on the occasion, said, “It was quite a challenge to deposit Rs 10 crore that day. I got a call from my lawyer at around 3 pm saying that the court had ruled that we would have to deposit a sum of Rs 10 crore with the court registrar if the film had to release. The RTGS facility shuts down at 4pm. I did not even have a bank account at Madurai where the case was taking place. Somehow, my bank facilitated this and we overcame this problem.

The producer, who is at the moment producing three big films in Kannada and Telugu, says he was deeply hurt by the suit that gave the impression that they had stolen the script. “Imagine how you would feel if you get this, after spending such huge amounts?”

The producer said such people will not be victorious. “Such things should not come to the film industry,” he said.

Stating that his lawyer had advised him to sue the person who had filed the suit against him and the other team members of Lingaa for the distress he had caused, Venkatesh said, “I told my lawyer that I don’t want to repeat what he did. If he understands, that is more important. I also follow Rajini and therefore, I don’t want to exact revenge. I request that such incidents should not recur.”

The producer said that he had incurred a sum of Rs 50 lakhs just as litigation charges. “More than the money, the stress it involves is taxing. I had to travel to Madurai everytime there was a hearing. We too could do it if we want to. We could sue him in a court in Mumbai or Delhi and make him travel everytime. But I did not want to do that.”