Shankar threatens legal action for ripping off Vel Paari; internet thinks he's talking about Devara or Kanguva

Director Shankar took to X (formerly Twitter) to threaten legal action against those who have been allegedly ripping off scenes from Su Venkatesan’s novel Veera Yuga Nayagan Vel Paari. The filmmaker, who owns the copyright to the work, says that a ‘recent trailer’ upset him and the internet thinks he’s talking about Koratala Siva’s Jr NTR-starrer Devara: Part 1 or Siva’s Suriya-starrer Kanguva. (Also Read: Are these Shankar's 8 best movies?)

Shankar miffed at rip-offs

Shankar posted on X that he has seen scenes from the novel being ripped off without permission in ‘many movies’ lately. He wrote, “As the copyright holder of Su. Venkatesan’s iconic Tamil novel "Veera Yuga Nayagan Vel Paari", I'm disturbed to see key scenes being ripped off & used without permission in many movies. Really upset to see important key scene from the novel in a recent movie trailer.”

He urged filmmakers to respect creators’ rights, threatening them with legal action if they paid no heed. He added, “Kindly refrain from using the scenes from the novel in movies, web series and any medium, Respect creators' rights! Refrain from Unauthorized adaptations of scenes, Refrain from infringement or face legal action! #VeeraYugaNayaganVelPaari #CopyrightProtection #FilmEthics @SuVe4Madurai”

He also tagged MP-author Su Venkatesan in his post, who re-tweeted it.

Internet reacts

While Shankar did not name any films, the internet interestingly thought he was speaking about Devara: Part 1 or Kanguva, whose trailers were recently released. “Devara I think,” wrote one X user, sharing a screenshot of how Vel Paari’s adventures often involved the sea and coastal communities. Another shared a few screengrabs of Devara’s trailer, writing, “Without Doubt, We can say he is Talking About #Devara.. Really Unacceptable Shankar sir..We are With You Shankar sir... Go Ahead.”

“Sir break the silence. Tell the movie name whether it is devara or kanguva?” commented one person. One shared screengrabs from the trailers of both Devara and Kanguva, asking him which film he’s talking about. “Many movies so he not talking about any particular movie,” another reasoned. Shankar did not respond to comments despite many asking him to ‘name and shame’.

Upcoming work

Shankar recently directed Kamal Haasan, Siddharth, Rakul Preet Singh-starrer Indian 2 which received lukewarm response from fans and critics. The film did not live up to expectations as many expected it to be as good as the 1996 Indian. He will soon debut in Telugu with Game Changer which stars Ram Charan and Kiara Advani in the lead roles. The film will be released in theatres in December.