Uppi flick in trouble again

Uppi flick in trouble again

The actor is in the dock for allegedly passing on a story, which was narrated to him years ago, to producer Muniratna

It looks like the problems with Sandalwood's first 3D flick will never end. The Upendra-Ramya starrer, which has been in a battle for the right to make it to theatres ahead of another Uppistarrer, is now facing a roadblock in the city civil court. The court has served notice to Upendra and Muniratna, the producer of Katari Veera Surasundarangi, based on a plaint filed by Niranjan Shetty, who has allegedly accused the duo of using his story for the film. An injunction has come into effect, stopping post-production of the film.
"In 2004, I had given Upendra a narration of my story titled, Devendra vs Upendra, which has been registered in Chennai. Going by the promos of the film, I feel that my story has been used and I believe that Upendra gave my story to Muniratna. I am trying to seek justice from the court,"says Niranjan.
Upendra, though, has an altogether different version on this. "Niranjan claims that he narrated his story way back in 2004. I don't remember him or any such script narration. If he is convinced that our film is based on his film, let him prove the same with the story he has supposedly registered in Chennai," says Upendra.
What the actor fails to understand, though, is why he has been dragged into this legal tussle. "I haven't written the story, but only the screenplay of the film. Producer Muniratna has written the story. Our film hasn't released and only the promos are out. How can Niranjan claim that the film is based on his story by just seeing the promos? asks Uppi, adding that a similar incident happened during the making of his film Super. "Two people had claimed that I had plagiarized their stories. Of late, this has become a trend of sorts for troublemakers to piggyback on films that are creating a buzz. I will take legal action," adds the Real Star.
Meanwhile, Muniratna says that that there have been several movies that have stories based on Bhooloka and Swargaloka interactions. "Does it mean that any movie that has Bhooloka and Swargaloka references is based on Niranjan's story? I have never heard of this man before, and I think that this is just a publicity gimmick for himself," says Muniratna.
Contributed by Mahesh H

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