Mammootty, Lijo Jose Pellissery land in plagiarism controversy, details inside
Indian director Halitha Shameem, who has predominantly worked in Tamil cinema, has recently accused Malayalam filmmaker and actor Lijo Jose Pellissery of plagiarizing the aesthetics of her film Aelay in Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam. Pellissery's film which features Mammootty in the lead role has received positive reviews from the audience and critics alike. Apparently, this accusation has come almost two months after the film's release.
'Stealing all the aesthetics from a film isn't acceptable'
Shameem, who is currently busy with the post-production of her upcoming film Minmini, took to her Facebook handle to elaborate on the case against Pellissery. The director briefly pointed out how Pellissery has made minute changes and copied her aesthetics, which ultimately, became a key point in the movie Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam. She wrote, "Stealing all the aesthetics from a film isn't acceptable."
Ice cream sellers in her film 'Aelay' have become milkmen
In her post, the director claimed that for her film Aelay, she prepared a village and aesthetics to shoot the film there for the first time. She said, "I am happy that Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam was shot there with the same people. However, the ice cream seller and houses in my film Aelay have become milkmen and others in the Tamil and Malayalam films."
'Will not keep quiet if my ideas are ripped off…'
The director also mentioned that she is pointing out the instance, with the view to stand up for herself. Calling out Pellissery, she also stated that she will not keep quiet if "her ideas were mercilessly ripped off." Meanwhile, her upcoming film was shot in two parts-the first half was shot in 2015, and the second half in 2022, keeping the age gap authentic.
'Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam' in nutshell
Featuring Mammootty, the film is about a middle-aged Malayali man, who suddenly wakes up and behaves like a Tamil man named Sundaram, who mysteriously went missing two years ago. Notably, this film marks the first onscreen collaboration between Mammootty and director Pellissery. Scripted by Theni Eshwar, and bankrolled by the actor-director duo, the film has been released on Netflix in Tamil, Malayalam, and Telugu.
