In what is being considered a rare triumph for aspiring writers and film-makers, A.R. Murugadoss, who has directed actor Vijay’s Deepavali release, Sarkar , has agreed to add a 30-second card admitting to the fact that aspiring film-maker Varun Rajendran conceived the same idea several years ago.
Stating that the screenplay written by Murugadoss for Sarkar and Rajendran’s script titled ‘ Sengol ’ were similar, K. Bhagyaraj, president, South Indian Writer’s Association, said, “As a creator, A.R. Murugadoss said that he has worked hard on the film and felt it was unfair. But, I told him that the concept of the film was the same and Varun Rajendran had thought of the same concept 10 years ago. When I insisted that he should recognise the similarity, Murugadoss acceded to my request.”
For his part, Murugadoss released a video clarifying that film’s story, screenplay and direction will be credited to him only. “Bhagyaraj requested that we should encourage Varun Rajendran’s effort to have conceived a script with the same ‘spark’ (of a man losing his vote in the elections) even though there are no further similarities with Sarkar . In that way, I agreed to put a card in the beginning,” said A.R. Murugadoss.
This is the second time Murugadoss has faced allegations of intellectual property theft. Film-maker Gopi Nainar, who made Arram , had made serious allegations that actor Vijay’s last film with Murugadoss, Kaththi, was his story.
No safeguards
Sarkar’s case has nevertheless opened up a space in Tamil cinema about the vulnerability of budding writers/filmmakers in Tamil cinema and how they can safeguard their intellectual property. Often, young film-makers are asked to narrate scripts and stories without any safeguards for their intellectual property. Unlike in the U.S., registration of screenplay is not an easy process in India, which puts off screenwriters. However, copyright lawyer M.V. Swaroop says that while ‘registering’ the script can be done to safeguard intellectual property, it is not necessary in court of law. “An idea cannot be copyrighted. Only an expression of an idea can be copyrighted,” said Swaroop.
He further said that there was a copyright infringement only when it could be proved that a second literary piece of work could exist without the first work. Tamil Film Producer Council’s treasurer S.R. Prabhu insists that the writers’ union should spread awareness about safeguarding copyrights.
