Chennai: Director Jeethu Joseph, who is riding high on the success of Mohanlal starrer 'Drishyam', on Tuesday refuted reports that his script drew inspiration from any Japanese or Korean authors' books.
"My movie is based on a thought, a situation narrated by a person during a meeting some 12 years ago. It has not been inspired by any Japanese or Korean authors," he told PTI.
Joseph said the person was explaining the problems of two families and how they were at each others throats and he wanted to be neutral and try to bring things around.
"I caught hold of the thought, situation and started thinking in terms of how this could work in cinema and that is where the seed for Drishyam germinated," he said.
He was reacting to reports that the Malayalam movie was reportedly inspired by Japanese author Keigo Higashino's book 'The Devotion of Suspect X', the rights of which Ekta Kapoor has acquired.
Some industry people had reportedly asked Ekta's creative team to watch 'Drishyam', pointing out that some elements are similar to the Japanese author's book.
Jeethu said 'Devotion to Suspect X' has the story revolving around two murders. "Have you read it?"
There was another report that Drishyam was based on Akira Kurosawa's 'Rashomon'.
Jeethu is of the view that in any movie one can find some similarities with themes in books or even films. "But that does not mean that you have copied or been inspired by it."
"Drishyam is a murder cover up. The script is original, a work of three-six months," he said.
The murder-thriller, released in December last, has turned out to be a blockbuster and is fast approaching the 75-day mark in many theatres.
Besides Mohanlal, Meena, Siddique and Asha Sharath enact key roles in the movie, revolving around the family of a cable TV operator and how things go topsy-turvy when a murder occurs in the house.
Jeethu earlier had Mammootty in mind but as the star found it difficult to give dates, decided on Mohanlal.
Asked if a good script can ensure a movie's success without the presence of superstars, Jeethu retorted, "Come on, so many movies have become hits. If the script is tight, good, it is easy for a director to visualise how the roles pan out..
"Of course the range of success will be different if a superstar acts. Take for example, if Shahrukh Khan acts, the success of the movie will be much more than what another actor can hope to achieve, isn't it?"
Jeethu said he receives feedback from people from all walks of life.
"I have my own team, ranging from a septuagenarian couple to an autorickshaw driver. I showed the Drishyam script to them and received their feedback. Of course, the majority who were enamoured with the script were women."
In all his movies starting from Suresh Gopi starrer 'Detective' down to 'Drishyam', all characters have defining roles. "Each role is properly delineated. But then a film’s success is teamwork."
'Drishyam' is set to be remade in Tamil with Kamal Haasan enacting Mohanlal's role. Jeethu will be directing it.
"Some sequences will be tweaked to suit the taste of the Tamil audience but the script will be the same. No scope for adding masala," he said.
It is set to be made in Telugu with Venkatesh playing the lead role while talks are on for the Kannada version.
On upcoming projects, he said "the next one is neither a murder-mystery or thriller but it is a common man's story. Dileep will be playing the lead role."
