10 cr assets of director S Shankar in ‘Enthiran’ plagiarism case attached by ED
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In connection with a money-laundering case involving plagiarism claims related to his 2010 blockbuster film Enthiran, the Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached assets worth Rs 10.1 crore that belonged to Tamil filmmaker and producer S Shankar, according to The Hindu.
On February 17, the Chennai Zonal Office of the agency filed a provisional attachment order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, resulting in the seizure of three real estate holdings under Shankar's name.
The Hindustan Times was informed by unnamed sources that this might be the first time assets have been seized in India under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act due to alleged copyright or plagiarism infringement in filmmaking, Scroll.in reported.
The case began on May 19, 2011, when writer Aarur Tamilnadan filed a complaint with the 13th Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Egmore, Chennai. Tamilnadan claimed that Shankar's film Enthiran, which starred Rajinikanth, had copied parts of his story Jiguba.
As a result, the filmmaker was held liable under the Indian Penal Code and the Copyright Act of 1957. Shankar was paid Rs 11.5 crore for his work on Enthiran, which included story development, screenplay, dialogue, and direction, according to the Enforcement Directorate's inquiry.
An independent study by the Film and Television Institute of India that found "striking similarities" between Jiguba and Enthiran was also cited by the agency.
“Based on the substantial evidence and records in hand, it has been determined that S Shankar has violated Section 63 of the Copyright Act, 1957 – a violation now classified as a scheduled offence under the PMLA, 2002,” the Enforcement Directorate said in a statement.
Enthiran, starring Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai, earned Rs 290 crore worldwide and was deemed a blockbuster at the time of its release.