Mohanlal’s debut directorial film ‘Barroz’ creates ruckus, Malayalam writer serves legal notice

South actor Mohanlal’s upcoming film ‘Barroz – The Guardian of D’Gama’s Treasure’ has been embroiled in controversy. The team of this movie has been sent a legal notice by German Malayalam writer George Thundiparambil alleging copyright violation. This is the actor’s first directed film, which is scheduled to release on September 12. But a month before that, it has got entangled in legal wrangling. According to reports, this film is allegedly based on a book written by filmmaker Jijo Punnoose. In his/her legal notice, George has alleged that there is a ‘strange similarity’ between Jijo’s book and his/her own novel ‘Maya’, which was published in the year 2008. Both stories are based on a popular myth, in which a deity named Kapiri Muthappan lives in the Kochi Fort to protect the hidden treasures of his/her Portuguese masters.

Legal notice from Malayalam writer George

The notice also mentioned that a friend of George had once taken a copy of his/her book to the film’s writer TK Rajeev Kumar, who co-wrote the script with Mohanlal in 2016. The friend was informed about the writer’s intention to adapt the story into a feature film. he/she was also told that Kumar would take the story to Jijo Punnoose for further discussions. However, George alleged that nothing happened about this later and he/she was also not told about any plans to make a film based on his/her book.

The filmmaker had left Mohanlal’s film 2 years ago

Interestingly, ‘Barroz’ is reportedly based on Jijo’s book, but the filmmaker distanced himself from the movie in 2022 itself. he/she said that it is no longer his/her film. In the blog, Jijo had revealed that his/her original script was changed several times over the years. While he/she wanted the story of the film to focus on the little girl who can see and talk to the ghost of Kapiri, the final draft was done by Mohanlal, in which the main focus was on the ghost, played by the actor himself.

Writer George claims Mohanlal’s directed film

Writer George has said in the notice that the producers have claimed that his/her film is based on Jijo Punnoose’s book, he/she searched for the novel but could not find it anywhere in the market. The writer said that he/she has seen some chapters of Jijo’s book which have been uploaded on the website of his/her production group Navodaya. And they are very similar to the things written in his/her novel ‘Maya’, including the mention of a girl who can see ghosts.

Seeking approval of copyright claims in legal notice

‘Maya’ is said to have been launched by Shashi Tharoor in 2008, while Jijo’s book on the same African-Indian-Portuguese myth came out in 2017. The legal notice sent by George to Mohanlal, Jijo, TK Rajeev Kumar and the film’s producer Antony Perumbavoor states that they have to clear the copyright claims before the release of their film. The producers are yet to respond in the matter.