Stay on Suraj Venjaramoodu’s ‘pregnant man’ film

Kochi: Mollywood is going through a lean patch with films failing to make a mark at the box office but the actors, technicians and producers seem to be making a lot of news, throwing mud at each other and inflicting bans.

The latest controversy surrounds National Award winner Suraj Venjaramoodu’s Garbha Sriman directed by Anil Gopinath — in which Suraj plays a pregnant man — whose release has been stayed for a month by the High Court.

The court gave the stay order on a case filed by Sudheesh Kumar who has been an associate director with several leading directors. Sudheesh had approached the court for a stay, alleging that the film’s makers had lifted a script that he had written six years back. They made minor changes and gave credit to another scriptwriter, he petitioned.

Apparently, Sudheesh had approached several actors with the story, wanting to direct it himself; he mentions that Anil had read his script in 2006 and had discussed the story with him.

According to Sudheesh, Suraj had also been approached to read the script and the actor had mentioned about reading a similar script. The actor had allegedly asked Sudheesh to work out a compromise, because he liked the script.

When contacted, Anil says, “I haven’t received any intimation of the court order. Some time back, a case was filed against the film by a person and that was rejected by the court. It would be the same person who has approached the Court; if there is such an order, I will be appealing against the decision.”.