Lingaa: Rajinikanth’s response in court contradicts KS Ravikumar’s counter-affidavit

We reported yesterday about KS Ravikumar’s counter affidavit in court here against petitioner Ravi Rathinam who alleged that Lingaa has been stolen from a script he penned for his film Mullaivanam 999. In his counter-affidavit, KS Ravikumar said, “Though the story of Lingaa is penned by Ponkumaran, the film’s screenplay is written by me and I have added more original elements to the script.” This statement contradicts Rajinikanth’s affidavit filed in court yesterday. “I wish to assert that the story and screenplay in the movie titled ‘Lingaa’ was written and created by Ponkumaran and has nothing to do with the petitioner’s story as claimed by him,” said Rajinikanth.

Ravi Rathinam included Rajinikanth as one of the respondents in the case citing reason that he also shares distribution rights for the film. Responding to this, Rajinikanth says, “It’s a blatant lie that I share distribution rights for the film. The name, fame and repute enjoyed by me worldwide have been tarnished as if the film Lingaa is a product of a copy-cat. I have been roped into unnecessary controversy. I hereby reserve my right to proceed against the petitioner for damages.” Rajinikanth also claimed that there have been myriad number of stories based on nationalisation of rivers and no one can claim copyrights over such a mainstream, widely discussed topic.