The legal troubles in connection with Rajinikanth-starrer "Lingaa" seem never-ending. The Tamil superstar was reportedly summoned Tuesday by a Madurai Court in connection with the plagiarism allegations of the movie.
The makers of the action thriller have been accused of stealing the story of writer KR Ravi Rathinam's movie "Mullai Vanam 999," based on the controversial Mullaiperiyar dam. Apart from the superstar, the plaintiff, "Lingaa" director KS Ravi Kumar, writer B Ponkumar and producer Rockline Venkatesh have also been directed to appear in court by the Additional District Munsiff Court Judge.
The case was moved to the Madurai High Court after Rathinam sought to transfer it to another court due to delay in the trial. Madras HC Justice V M Velumani had recently directed the Munsiff court to complete trial by April 30.
In December 2014, the Madras HC had ordered the producer to deposit Rs 5 crore by demand draft and Rs 5 crore as bank guarantee before the release of the movie. However, Venkatesh had appealed against it in the Supreme Court, which directed him to give Rs 1 crore as bank guarantee.
The Rajinikanth, Sonakshi Sinha and Anushka Shetty-starrer, directed by KS Ravikumar, was Dec. 12 2014, coinciding with Rajinikanth's 64th birthday. However, the movie couldn't make a mark at the box office and failed to recover its high distribution cost.
Meanwhile, Rajinikanth is currently awaiting the release of Pa Ranjith's multilingual movie "Kabali," which is expected to hit the screens in May. The movie narrates the story of an aged don, and has Radhika Apte, Dhansika, Dinesh and Kalaiyarasan in pivotal roles.
