Producer Allu Arvind, who made the film Magadheera under the Geetha Arts banner, has moved court seeking an injunction against the makers of the Hindi film Raabta in a bid to stop its scheduled release on June 9, alleging plagiarism and violation of copyright.
Mr. Arvind contended that the unique story and plot line of Magadheera , directed by S.S. Rajamouli, was copied in Raabta . The city court has issued a notice and posted the matter to June 1 when it would announce its decision on whether to permit the film to be released on June 9 or not.
Touted as a romantic thriller with Kriti Sanon and Sushant Singh Rajput as the lead pair, Raabta is directed and produced by Dinesh Vijan. The pre-release controversy began when its trailer was praised for its grandeur.
The concept of two estranged lovers meeting in a different life with a time gap of a few hundred set off reports that the storyline was allegedly borrowed from Magadheera that stars Kajal Aggarwal and Ramcharan Tej, which hit the screens on July 30, 2009. It became an instant hit and grossed over ₹75 crore.
Whether or not there was a violation of copyright, what is interesting is that with Magadheera Mr. Rajamouli reached the peak of his career as it was the highest-grossing Telugu film till 2009. About eight years later, Bahubali: The Conclusion , produced under the Arka MediaWorks banner, went on to become the highest grossing film in India, crossing the ₹1,200 crore mark, and still counting!
