Shankar responds to Anniyan producer's copying claim, calls the allegations baseless

On 14 April Ranveer Singh announced that he will be starring in the Bollywood remake of the hit Tamil film Anniyan, which would be directed by filmmaker S. Shankar. Just a day later Anniyan's producer ‘Aascar' V Ravichandran sent a letter claiming he bought the full rights of the story from writer Sujatha. In the letter addressed to Shankar, he expressed his 'shock' upon hearing the news of the remake and wrote, "I am utterly shocked to know, that you are likely to undertake the Direction of a Hindi film by adopting the story of the movie Anniyan. You are well aware of the fact that, I am the Producer of the said movie Anniyan. He further claimed that he is the 'sole owner' of the story's rights and has the necessary records of payment for the same. "The entire story rights was purchased by me from the writer Sujatha (alias late Rangarajan) for which full payment was done by me to him and necessary records are also available. I am the whole and sole owner of the rights of the storyline. A such, any such adoption or remaking or copying the main plot of the same movie, without my permission, is totally illegal. 

Now, Shankar has written back to the producer denying the allegations and stated that he is the mind behind the script and that he can use it however he wants to. Shankar wrote, “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. 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. ”He further added, “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.” It was announced recently that Shankar is directing the Bollywood version of Anniyan with Ranveer Singh as the lead actor. Anniyan had Chiyaan Vikram and Sadha in the lead roles. The film was about a man with multiple personality disorder and it was a huge hit in Kollywood. Anniyan is a Tamil psychological thriller written and directed by S. Shankar while the dialogues are credited to writer Sujatha. The movie follows the life of a disillusioned man who has multiple personality disorder, played by Vikram. One of the personalities is Anniyan, a murderous vigilante. The original was dubbed in French, in Telugu as Aparichithudu, and in Hindi as Aparichit.