Director Lakshman has issued a statement accusing director Antony of attempting to extort money from his team, following allegations from Antony that the story for Bogan had been plagiarised from his own film Halwa‘s script. Bogan, directed by Lakshman, stars Jayam Ravi, Hansika, and Arvind Swami. Antony recently told Silverscreen.in that he had faced physical attacks from from Bogan producer Isari Ganesh‘s henchmen. He also said that he had been offered money to keep quiet on the issue.
Speaking to Silverscreen.in, Antony said that he come up with the story a long time ago, and had begun filming it under the title “Halwa”. Due to production issues, the film had been stalled.
Now, Lakshman has issued a statement in which he alleges that Antony’s real intentions were to extort money from the makers of Bogan.
According to Lakshman, he first met Antony at the Writers Association a few months ago, where he was called to discuss Bogan‘s story: “When I asked Antony why he thought the scripts were similar, Antony told me that producer Nemichand Jhabak, who had heard his script, said that the two stories sounded alike. I then contacted Mr. Jhabak, who said that after hearing Antony’s story, he told him that he had heard a similar concept from me. Mr. Jhabak then explained my story to Antony. Antony immediately changed his script to resemble mine. On 11 January, he became a member of the Writers Association and two days later, submitted his script to them.
“Twenty days later, on 3 February, he lodged a complaint against me at the Association. This shows his real intentions. Moreover, about his complaint, we were both called to the Writers Association and our scripts were compared. It was then deemed that both our scripts have some similarities but the screenplay pattern was different.
Recommended
“When I wrote the script for Bogan, I had watched a few English films for inspiration, and I had submitted the DVDs of those films to the Association. Since Antony has not accepted the explanation I have given, the Writers Association has asked us to take the proceedings to court.
“There are hundreds of films that come out, with concepts of robots, horror, and time machines. Similarly, the concept of my film is a common one. I do not understand how Antony can claim ownership over that concept. His only intention is to extort money, and I hope nobody encourages people like him. The case has moved to court now and I have faith in our legal system.”
The Writers Association has also issued a statement, formally dismissing Antony’s complaint. According to the statement, the Association had initially tried to solve the issue through dialogue. However, after learning that both directors had drawn inspiration from several foreign films, the Association decided to not involve itself in the issue any further.
***
In related news, actor Jayam Ravi, who had suffered a minor injury while shooting for Bogan stated that he would resume shooting in a few days.
Thank u for ur love and prayers. I’m doing well. A minor injury at shoot. Will resume work in a few days. U guys r my strength ??????
— Jayam Ravi (@actor_jayamravi) October 22, 2016
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
Starring Jayam Ravi, Arvind Swamy , Hansika Motwani and Akshara Gowda in the leading roles, Bogan has music by D Imman. The film is slated for a December 23rd release.