Plea alleges Parasakthi movie story stolen; Madras HC issues notice

The Madras High Court has directed the South Indian Film Writers Association (SWAN) to examine a complaint alleging that the story of the upcoming movie Parasakthi, starring Sivakarthikeyan, was allegedly stolen. Justice SM Subramaniam issued notices to director Sudha Kongara, writer Arjun Nadesan, screenwriter Pugazhendi Mathimaran, Dawn Pictures Pvt Ltd, and SWAN, instructing the association to investigate the complaint and submit a report by January 2, 2026.

As per a Live Law report, the case was filed by K V Rajendran, who claims he originally conceptualized the story and registered a script titled Chemmozhi with SWAN on January 1, 2010. Rajendran stated that since 2012, he had been sharing and developing the script, including with producer Salem Dhanasekaran, who allegedly shared it with actor Suriya and director Sudha Kongara. He asserts that the movie later emerged as Parasakthi, with Sivakarthikeyan replacing Suriya in the lead role.

Rajendran also alleged that Dr. A Ramasamy, the script consultant for Parasakthi, was pressured to work with the film’s makers and was offered Rs. 3,00,000 to act as a script expert while keeping his name exclusive to the project. Despite submitting a formal complaint to the Writers’ Association in January 2025 with supporting documents, no action was taken. When he followed up in March 2025, he was reportedly told that ongoing shooting in Sri Lanka prevented immediate investigation, and the Story Theft Expert Committee did not act urgently.

Rajendran contends that the filmmakers plagiarized his story without providing recognition and that releasing the movie would cause him irreparable financial and mental harm, impacting his career prospects. He has sought to restrain the filmmakers from displaying their names as writers, demanded Rs. 1.01 crore as payment for the story, and requested Rs. 25,000 from the association for failing to investigate. He has also sought an interim order to prevent the release of Parasakthi until the matter is resolved.