Non bailable warrant issued against 'Robot' director Shankar for story theft

A non-bailable warrant has been issued against director Shankar in connection to a 10-year old case. A metropolitan magistrate court in Chennai issued the warrant after Indian director Shankar failed to appear before the court for over 10 years in connection to his film Enthiran's plagiarism case. A short story writer named Arur Tamilnandan had alleged that Shankar used his story in Rajinikanth starrer Enthiran, which was a violation of the Copyright Act, 1957. Released in 2010, the film also featured Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Danny Denzongpa, Santhanam and Karunas in important roles. According to media reports, Arur Tamilnandan had penned a story Jiguba, which was published in Tamil magazine Iniya Udhayam in 1996. 

Later, it was re-published as a novel Dhik Dhik Dheepika in 2007 and in 2010, after the release of Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan starrer, Arur Tamilnandan alleged that Shankar copied his story from Jiguba. In his complaint, he also mentioned that the filmmaker earned a lot out Enthiran, which originally was his story. In 2020, the Supreme Court had rejected a petition filed by Shankar challenging the order of the Madras High Court in connection to this copyright violation case. It has been years, neither Shankar nor his counsel appeared before the court in connection to the plagiarism case and hence, the court has issued now a non-bailable warrant and adjourned the matter to February 19. The film is about a scientist (Rajinikanth) who creates a robot in his own form to help the Indian army. The robot however turns evil due to the intervention from a rival scientist and abducts the heroine played by Aishwariya Rai, whom it develops feelings for, in the process.  The film received generally positive reviews upon release. Critics were particularly appreciative of Rajinikanth's performance as Chitti.