ED seizes ₹10-cr assets of ‘Robot’ director

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached three immovable properties worth over ₹10 crore owned by film director and producer S Shankar under the stringent Prevention of Money Laundering Act, in connection with a complaint that accused him of plagiarism in the Rajinikanth-starrer 2010 movie Enthiran (Robot).

The financial crime probe agency was acting on a complaint filed by an individual named Aarur Tamilnadan, who alleged that the storyline of the movie Enthiran (Robot) was copied from a story titled Jiguba authored by him, thereby rendering Shankar liable for violations under the Copyright Act, 1957, and the (then) Indian Penal Code.

To be sure, the Copyright Act, 1957, is classified as a scheduled offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and action for violations has been taken in the past in some cases. However, it is the first time that the financial crimes probe agency has put its resources into probing the origins of a movie’s storyline.

In a statement issued on Thursday, ED said that its Chennai zonal office “has provisionally attached three immovable properties registered in the name of S Shankar, with a total value of ₹10.11 crore (approximately) on February 17 under the provisions of PMLA”.

Enthiran, a Tamil movie, was released in 2010. It grossed ₹290 crore worldwide, making it an all-time blockbuster at the time. ED initiated a PMLA probe based on a complaint (civil suit) filed by Tamil writer Aarur Tamilnadan before the 13th Metropolitan Magistrate Court, Egmore, Chennai on May 19, 2011.

Tamilnadan had accused Shankar and the producers of the movie of lifting the plot from Jiguba, which he said was published in a magazine in 1996. In Jiguba, which was published in a Tamil monthly magazine Iniya Udhayam in April 1996, Tamilnadan claimed he had depicted a robot that develops a human mind.

The Madras high court had, in June 2023, dismissed the civil suit against Shankar and producer Kalanithi Maran, and noted there cannot be a copyright over an idea or concept. The court order did not mention ED or any other probe agency to not take up the case.

“The complaint alleges that the storyline of the movie Enthiran (Robot), directed by S Shankar, was copied from a story titled Jiguba authored by Aarur Tamilnadan, thereby rendering S Shankar liable for violations under the Copyright Act, 1957, and Indian Penal Code, 1860,” ED’s statement said.

ED said its investigation revealed that “Shankar received a substantial remuneration of ₹11.5 crore for his multifaceted contributions to Enthiran, including story development, screenplay, dialogues, and direction.”

“Furthermore, an independent report by the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) identified striking similarities between the story Jiguba and the movie Enthiran. This report, which examined narrative structure, character development, and thematic elements, lends significant support to the plagiarism allegations against Shankar,” ED said.

The agency added that “based on substantial evidence and records in hand, it has been determined that S Shankar has violated section 63 of the Copyright Act, 1957 — a violation now classified as a scheduled offence under the PMLA, 2002”. The agency is carrying out further investigation into the matter.