Even before its release, Jeethu Joseph’s ‘Neru’ had found itself marred by a plagiarism allegation. Yesterday, the Kerala HC refused to stay the release of the film. Now, the director has broken his silence and has shared a post where he talked about these allegations.
The allegations arose when Deepu K Unni filed a case with the Kerala HC that Jeethu Joseph and Santhi Mayadevi had plagiarized the script that he had written. Deepu alleged that he had met Jeethu and Santhi and narrated the story. He claimed that the duo had promised that they would include him in the project once they had the hero onboard. However, it was only when the trailer starring Mohanlal was released that he found out about the film. He also claimed that the trailer showed the exact turn of events as he had written in his script.
Taking to his Facebook, Jeethu Joseph wrote that he made ‘Neru’ with complete honesty. He addressed the allegation, saying, “Only hours are left before ‘Neru’ becomes yours. The film was made with complete sincerity and enthusiasm like no other film I have ever worked on. But in the last few days, that too, as the release of my film approaches, a controversy has arisen. You will know that another person came forward claiming the story of 'Neru' and approached the court for it. The synopsis of his story and the case details have been making the rounds on social media. I request the audience, after watching the film, to give the judgment whether the claims are true or false.”
Starring Mohanlal and Priyamani, ‘Neru’ is a courtroom drama that is one of the most awaited Malayalam films of this year. The film opened to good reviews from the critics.
