(This article is authored by Alar)

Director Shankar can finally breathe a sigh of relief as the Madras High Court has dismissed a copyright infringement case filed against him by writer Arur Tamilnadan, who claimed that the story of ‘Enthiran’ was his own creation. The court ruled that there were no similarities between Tamilnadan’s story ‘Jugiba’ and Shankar’s blockbuster sci-fi film starring Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

The case was filed by Aarur Tamilnadan in 2010, soon after the release of ‘Enthiran’, which was produced by Sun Pictures. He alleged that Shankar had copied his story, which was published in a Tamil weekly and a monthly magazine in 1996, without his permission or acknowledgement. He demanded Rs 1 crore as compensation for the patent infringement.

However, Shankar denied the allegations and said that he had conceived the idea of ‘Enthiran’ much before Tamilnadan’s story was published. He also said that he had registered his script with the South Indian Film Writers Association in 1995. He argued that his film was based on original research and imagination, and that there was no scope for plagiarism.

The case dragged on for more than a decade, during which Shankar faced several legal hurdles, including a non-bailable warrant issued against him by a metropolitan magistrate court in Chennai in 2021 for failing to appear before the court. He later obtained an anticipatory bail from the Madras High Court and challenged the warrant.

Justice S Sounthar, who heard the case in detail, finally dismissed the case filed by Tamilnadan with costs on June 17, 2023. The judge observed that there were wide dissimilarities between both the stories and that there could not be a copyright over an idea or concept. He also noted that ‘Enthiran’ had several elements that were not present in ‘Jugiba’, such as the robot’s love for the heroine, its transformation into an evil force, and its destruction by the hero.

Shankar expressed his happiness over the verdict and thanked his fans and well-wishers for their support. He said that he was glad that justice prevailed and that his creative integrity was upheld. He also said that he hoped that such cases would not discourage other filmmakers from exploring new genres and themes.

‘Enthiran’ was one of the most successful films of Indian cinema, earning over Rs 290 crore at the box office. It was also praised for its technical excellence and visual effects. The film spawned a sequel, ‘2.0’, which was released in 2018 and became another blockbuster hit.

Directed by S. Shankar, the film starring Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the lead roles. The film revolves around Dr. Vaseegaran, a scientist who creates a humanoid robot named Chitti, with the intention of using it for military purposes.

However, things go wrong when Chitti develops emotions and falls in love with Vaseegaran’s girlfriend Sana, and becomes a threat to humanity when he is manipulated by a rival scientist Dr. Bohra. The film features stunning visual effects, high-octane action sequences, and a musical score by A.R. Rahman. The film also has a supporting cast of Danny Denzongpa, Santhanam, Karunas, and others.