'Sarkar' plagiarism row: Director AR Murugadoss to flash message card agreeing that theme is similar

Last week, Varun Rajendran, a writer and associate director, filed a complaint with the South Indian Film Writer's Association, saying that 'Sarkar' is a copy of his story.
Vijay in 'Sarkar'. (Photo | YouTube Screengrab)
Vijay in 'Sarkar'. (Photo | YouTube Screengrab)

As the Vijay-starrer 'Sarkar' faces a roadblock, the director AR Murugadoss has accepted on Tuesday to have adapted the story from Varun Rajendran's 'Sengol'.

Last week, Varun Rajendran, a writer and associate director, filed a complaint with the South Indian Film Writer's Association, saying that 'Sarkar' is a copy of 'Sengol', a story that Rajendran registered with the Association in 2007.

The case was looked into by K. Bhagyaraj, the head of South Indian Film Writer's Association, and found that 'Sarkar's story was not original. 

On Friday, the case was taken to the Madras High Court in the presence of Justice M Sundar. The judge directed that 'Sarkar' producers Sun pictures and the Writers Association must come up with an agreement by October 30th.

In the resulting agreement, AR Murugadoss admitted that 'Sarkar' was derived from 'Sengol'. Sun Pictures have agreed to thank Varun Rajendran in the title card, and also pay him Rs 30 lakhs as compensation.

The makers have also agreed to flash the following message card for 30 seconds after the thank you note.

'Sarkar', which stars Keerthy Suresh, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Radha Ravi, and Yogi Babu, will release on Diwali as planned.

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