Case brought under the Copyright Act against Suriya's Jai Bhim for alleged story theft

• Image Credit: Internet

• Aug 25, 2022 | Sourav Boruah

mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold"> Digital Desk: A marginalised community in Tamil Nadu is the subject of TJ
Gnanavel's historical play Jai Bhim, which explores police brutality and
injustice against them. The 1993 episode in which tribal members were
purportedly arrested and abused by the police served as a loose inspiration for
the movie. Suriya portrays Advocate Chandru, who was crucial in securing their
freedom and is modelled after Justice Krishnaswami Chandru.

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bold"> 

mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#424242">According to a report
in DT Next, V Kulanjiyappan, who is the inspiration for one of the characters
in the movie, has filed a case against it. Following a magistrate court order,
Chennai Police opened a case. Kulanjiyappan has filed a case with the Sastri
Nagar police station in Chennai alleging that the film's producers utilised his
story without providing him with the royalties they purportedly promised.
According to the article, a formal complaint has been filed under Section 63(a)
of the Copyright Act against T J Gnanavel, the film's director, and 2D
Entertainment, the production company.

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mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#424242">According to the
complainant, he told the film's production crew about the crimes against humanity
the police committed in 1993 at the Kammapuram police station. In January 2019,
Gnanavel allegedly visited Kulanjiyappan at his home and demanded information
on the 1993 event. He claimed he was promised a royalty payment of 50 lakh and
a cut of the profits, neither of which, he claims, have been paid yet. The
plaintiff further claimed that the movie portrayed his community negatively and
that the producers had financially boycotted and taken advantage of the
victims.

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The movie has encountered legal difficulties before. The
parent organisation of the Tamil Nadu-based political party PMK, Vanniyar
Sangam, brought the movie to court shortly after it was released for allegedly
maligning the Vanniyar community. The director was forced to apologise to the
community as a result.

On November 2, 2021, Jai Bhim was launched on Prime Video,
and since then, reviews have been overwhelmingly positive, praising Suriya's
performance as well as the film's directing and plot. Although it was India's
official entry, it didn't make the shortlist for the 94th Academy Awards.