Director Atlee has been accused of plagiarism again. Almost all of his films have faced similar issues, and this time, he has been accused of copying the story of Vijayakanth’s 2006 movie Perarasu for Shah Rukh Khan‘s upcoming film, Jawan. A Tamil producer named Manikam Narayanan has filed a complaint against Atlee with Tamil Film Producers Council (TFPC), which is currently investigating the issue, according to the Tamil daily Maalai Malar.
Perarasu (2006), directed by Udhayan, follows the story of an honest CBI officer named Kasi Viswanathan (Vijayakanth), who is tasked to investigate the disappearance of a judge. As Kasi closes in on the culprits, they get murdered one after the another by an unknown person, who is later revealed to be Kasi’s biological twin.
Now, though the plot of Jawan is not yet known, it has been speculated that Shah Rukh Khan is playing two roles in the film. Also, two of Atlee’s four ventures have the lead actor playing dual roles. This is not the first time Atlee is facing such an accusation. Back in 2019, an assistant director named KP Selva claimed that the story of Atlee’s Bigil is the same as his story, which he had registered with the South Indian Film Writers’ Association. However, the case was dismissed by the Chennai city civil court.
Similarly, a filmmaker named Shiva accused Atlee of stealing the story of his short film for Bigil. Shiva claimed that he narrated the story to a producer, who had leaked it to Atlee.
Atlee’s films are also generally criticized for being similar to old Tamil blockbusters. His debut film, Raja Rani, has been called out of being similar to Mani Ratnam’s Mouna Ragam. Likewise, the obvious similarities between Mersal and Kamal Haasan’s Apoorva Sagodharargal and Rajinikanth’s Moondru Mugam, have also been widely discussed by the fans and media.
Meanwhile, Jawan is gearing up for release in 2023. Other than SRK, the film has Nayanthara and Vijay Sethupathi in lead roles. Anirudh Ravichander is composing the music for the film.
