‘Sarkar’ plagiarism row ends, film to be released on November 6

The plagiarism row surrounding AR Murugadoss’s Tamil action film Sarkar ended on Tuesday with the director agreeing to give special credit for the story to KV Rajendran, a script writer and assistant director. The Madras High Court, which was hearing the plagiarism case, cleared the way for the film’s release on November 6 after learning that the two parties had reached a settlement.

Rajendran had alleged that the premise of Sarkar had been taken from his script Sengol, which he had registered with the South Indian Film Writers Association in 2007. After an investigation, the association, headed by K Bhagyaraj, released a statement acknowledging a similarity between the two films.

Murugadoss has agreed to include a 30-second statement in the film’s credits stating that Rajendran had 11 years ago come up with a concept similar to the one on which Sarkar is based, The Hindu reported. Rajendran, meanwhile, has given an undertaking to the court stating that he will not object to the release of Sarkar in any language, the publication said.

The Vijay-starrer examines the concept of bogus voting. Vijay plays Sundar, reportedly a non-resident Indian businessman who returns to his country to vote in the elections only to find that his someone has already voted in his name. The film also stars Keerthy Suresh, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Prem Kumar and Yogi Babu. AR Rahman has composed the music. The film marks Murugadoss and Vijay’s third collaboration after Thuppakki (2012) and Kaththi (2014).

Murugadoss on Tuesday tweeted a video saying the only thing common between Rajendran’s script and his is vote rigging theme. Murgadoss reiterated that the rest of the story, screenplay and dialogue are by him. He also released a statement praising Rajendran for coming up with a script about bogus voting before him and thanking the South Indian Film Writers Association for “identifying a talented colleague”.