‘Baby’ Film Director Accused Of Copying Story

In his complaint, Sriram said: "During the script development, I teamed up with Vaishnavi Mounika, a journalism student at the time, now studying law. We wrote 60 scenes together, calling the project ‘Kanna Please’ or ‘Teen Movie’. In 2015, I met the director of ‘Baby’ Sai Rajesh Neelam at a hotel in Hyderabad and sharing the text with him. He showed interest in producing the film and planned to involve his friend, producer Srinivasa Kumar Naidu, for support from Geetha Arts.”

He said they worked for more than one year at Neelam's office at Amrutha Productions. “After working on the project for a few months, the producer vanished, prompting me to leave the office,” Sriram said.

“In 2023, he released 'Baby,' which was similar to our project 'Preminchoddu.' The 'Baby' director initially promised to produce our film but made his own with a similar storyline," Sriram said in the complaint.

Raidurgam inspector M. Mahesh told Deccan Chronicle, "We have received a complaint from Shirin Sriram. He was introduced to Neelam by Kathi Mahesh in 2015. Neelam asked him to narrate his story, which was titled 'Kanna Please' which was later renamed as 'Preminchoddu”. He expressed interest in producing it as a cinematic film.”

“When Neelam’s movie 'Baby' was released in July 2023, with a similar storyline, the complainant's associates raised concerns with him. We have registered a case and investigations are ongoing,” the inspector said.