Writer Sarath Chandra hits out at Koratala, Mahesh Babu

SC rules in favor of writer Sarath Chandra in copyright infringement case against director Koratala Siva, Mahesh Babu, and producer Naveen Yerneni for 'Srimanthudu'.

Update: 2024-02-02 14:19 GMT
Picture of Koratala Siva and Mahesh Babu

Hyderabad: Telugu novelist Sarath Chandra received a favorable judgment in the Supreme Court on Tuesday over his copyright violation case against leading Telugu director Koratala Siva for his film ‘Srimanthudu’. He is going all guns blazing against Koratala and Mahesh Babu. He claims that Koratala, Mahesh, and producer Naveen Yerneni didn’t respond to his notices until they were forced to do so. “Writers should not be taken for granted so I am fighting for their rights," he claimed in an interview and added, “Initially, they wanted to make a film on my story, but later Koratala has stolen it. He is yet even to submit proof in civil court. I do not intend to compromise for money, this is my fight as a writer. Koratala needs to be punished for this, both by the court and the film industry. Ironically, many stars are working with Koratala despite all these allegations which is quite unfortunate,” he lamented

He also went on to claim that Koratala has no proof. “I have proof of how everything from the hero-heroine characterization to even Vennela Kishore’s role, and the storyline, names of places, and companies have been ripped off my story. Koratala hasn’t even registered his story with the writer’s association. You also have to question why this case has taken seven long years. No one would fight it for this long. I will file a case against Mahesh and Naveen again because they're responsible too,” he claimed.

Srimanthudu, starring Mahesh Babu and Shruti Haasan, was released in 2015 but almost a decade later, the film remains in the news for the wrong reasons. Writer Sarath Chandra filed a copyright infringement case against Koratala, apart from producer Naveen and Mahesh, for allegedly copying his story for the film.
Novelist RD Wilson, known as Sarath Chandra, alleged that the film copied his 2012 story Chachenta Prema, published in Swathi magazine monthly. A case was filed in Nampally Criminal Court and City Civil Court in 2017. While the Telangana High Court rejected the cases against Naveen and Mahesh later on, it retained the case against Koratala. The director moved the Supreme Court to strike down the case.
Upon reviewing Koratala's plea, the Supreme Court bench concluded that he should face charges by the rulings of the local courts. This legal saga continues to unfold, casting a shadow over the director's work who is awaiting the release of his next film 'Devara' with Jr NTR and Jhanvi Kapoor.


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