Sarkar Story copyright issue: Madras HC orders notices to Sun Pictures, Writers’ Association

The Madras High Court on Thursday issued notices to Sun Pictures, the producers of the much-awaited Vijay-starrer Sarkar, and the South Indian Film Writers’ Association in connection with a case filed by assistant director Varun Rajendran against the film’s director A R Murugadoss.

Varun Rajendran has alleged that the story of Sarkar is a replica of his story Sengol, which he had registered with the South Indian Film Writers’ Association.

Justice Sundar, who heard the plea, ordered notices, returnable by October 30, to Sun Pictures as they had filed a caveat, urging that their opinion be sought before arriving at a decision on any matters pertaining to Sarkar and also to the South Indian Film Writers’ Association, which has issued a letter confirming that the story of Sarkar and the story of Sengol are one and the same.

However, the judge refused to grant a stay on the release of the film as sought by assistant director Varun Rajendran in his plea. Varun had urged the court to stay the film’s release until he was given credit for the story and also a sum of Rs 30 lakhs for copyright infringement.

This is not the first time that A R Murugadoss has been accused of plagiarism. Most recently, he was accused of plagiarism by writer and director Gopi, who claimed that the story of Murugadoss’s Kaththi was actually his.