Young actor Nivin Pauly has recently announced his next Kairali, based on the mysterious disappearance of a ship off the Indian coast with 49 members on board in 1979. Now, a young engineer has come forward accusing actor-director-script writer Sidhartha Siva of stealing his plot.
Read more: Nivin announces his next with director Jomon T John
In a Facebook post, Vishnu Rajendran has shared the synopsis of his story, titled Kappal. "The plot of the story - Kairali seems the same, a disappearing ship. Making a movie inspired from foreign languages is fine, but stealing someone's dream to make an art form is cruel," Vishnu told International Business Times, India.
"I penned the story while I was sailing on my last ship. I have discussed the story with some established directors of Malayalam Industry and received positive feedbacks for it being a subject never tried before in Malayalam or even in Indian cinema. I don't want to reveal the names of the directors. I have discussed the story with the distribution company Eros International and they even agreed to distribute the film," Vishnu told IBTimes.
According to Vishnu, the story of Kappal revolves around two young men, Captain John Felix and second engineer Robin. "The story starts with a collision incident happening at sea where both Captain and Second Engineer are employed on the same ship. Captain dismisses second from his job stating that it was his mistake thereby taking grudge on him. The incident unleashes the story of their rivalry. The first half of the story gives a rundown of their childhood and their enmity in a humorous way [sic]," reads the synopsis of Kappal.
The ship gets hijacked by pirates, and the Captain's father Capt. Felix Mathew comes to rescue, but later, it's revealed that the entire hijack was plotted by the latter with the help of the second engineer to reunite the families. Vishnu said the story is a heist thriller, and he wanted to shoot in Alang in Gujarat with a limited budget.
Here is the Facebook post of Vishnu:
Does Nivin's Kairali, scripted by Sidhartha Siva, have a similar storyline? The makers of Kairali are yet to react to the allegations.
Meanwhile, Kairali marks the directorial debut of cinematographer Jomon T John and is the production venture of Nivin under the banner of Pauly Jr Pictures in association with Real Life Works. The movie, based on real life incident, is expected to start rolling in December, and Nivin had earlier revealed that he is totally excited to be part of the project ever since he heard the story.
