THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Day 6 of the 19th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) on Wednesday, as usual, saw a big rush of delegates at all the venues and most of the movies received good reviews.
However, the morning session of the day witnessed allegations of plagiarism being raised against a Malayalam movie in the ‘Competition’ section.
‘Zahir’, directed by actor-turned-filmmaker Sidhartha Siva, was the target of the critics. The issue started by around 9.30 am, during the screening of the movie at Nila theatre in the Kairali complex here. City-based short filmmaker S Sreerag came up with the allegation that the movie was copied from his short film titled ‘Mournique.’ He was supported by some of the delegates present in the theatre. Following the screening of ‘Zahir’, ‘Mournique’ was also shown in the theatre by Sreerag on his laptop.
“’Zahir’ is a ditto copy of my work. The script of the movie was submitted to the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC) - Chalachitra Academy officials during IFFK 2013 in the marketing session held at Hotel Horizon here. That session was held as a workshop and they said that they would help to make a film after selecting the best. But it is shocking that a movie was made based on my draft,” Sreerag told Express.
Sreerag said that when he contacted Sidhartha Siva regarding the issue, his reply was that ‘Zahir’ had started production in September 2013. “But I have heard that the movie’s work started only this year. Anyhow, I am thinking of moving legally,” he said.
As per the promotional posters of ‘Zahir’, it is produced in association with KSFDC. When contacted, KSFDC chairman Sabu Cherian and vice-chairman Edavela Babu said that the corporation has not produced the movie and they are unaware about the allegations raised by Sreerag.
According Sidhartha Siva, ‘Zahir’ was shot and censored in 2013. “I have not seen that short film or the script they had submitted to the academy. I don’t know the motive behind the allegation. I can only say that ‘Zahir’ is a fresh work based on an idea which was in mind for around four years,” he said.
