Rajnikant, Shankar get court notice

A Chennai court has ordered issuance of notice to Rajnikant, director Shankar and producer AVM Saravanan, in connection with a plagiarism case involving their latest blockbuster Sivaji: The Boss. The petition filed by one Elangovan, alleged that the film was a duplication of a story written by him.

The notice, returnable by September 21, was issued by 13th Assistant City Civil Court Judge A Nazeer Ahmed.

In his petition, Elangovan contended that the respondents had used the story, which he had sent to them in October, 2005.

The Office Staff of the Director, after noting down the story, had replaced the postal content with 'slack papers' and had sent it back to him with an endorsement saying 'refused,' he submitted.

''Except for some minor alterations to the screenplay, which were aimed at defeating my right, the story of Sivaji is constructed on the storyline invented by me,'' he contended.

The petitioner has sought the court to restrain the respondents from alienating any rights of Sivaji such as audio and video rights, overseas rights, dubbing rights and remaking rights, pending disposal of the case.