On Wednesday, Shankar announced the Hindi version of Anniyan with Ranveer Singh as the lead actor. After this, V Ravichandran accused Shankar of being “unethical” by announcing the Hindi remake of Anniyan without consulting him as it belongs to him, he said.
Later, Shankar issued a strong rebuttal to Anniyan producer V Ravichandran’s legal notice. He claimed that the rights of the script of Anniyan didn’t require Ravichandran’s permission.
Shankar’s statement read, “I am shocked to receive your mail dated 14.04.2021 stating that you own the storyline of the movie Anniyan. In this context, I submit that the movie was released in the year 2005 and everyone associated with the movie were aware that the script and storyline belongs exclusively to me and in fact the movie was released with the tag: Story, Screenplay and Direction by Shankar. I have not assigned in writing any script or screenplay to any person, and continue to retain the right to exploit the script in any manner I deem fit. As the admitted author of the literary work, my rights cannot be interfered with under any circumstances.”
“I am rather surprised to see the reference to late Sri Sujatha, as he was engaged by me only to write dialogues for the film and was accordingly credited. He was not involved in the script, screenplay or characterization in any manner, and there is no scope beyond his engagement as a dialogue writer,” Shankar claimed.
“Given that the script vests with me, I am absolutely entitled to exploit the same in any manner I deem fit. In fact, you/your entity does not have the right to remake or make any derivative rights for “Anniyan”, as the said rights have not been granted to you in writing. In the absence of any assignment in writing from me, there can be no basis whatsoever to even assert that the “storyline” vests with you, added Shankar.
