ED Probes Enthiran Director S Shankar As 10 Crore Assets Get Attached In Plagiarism Row
Director S Shankar faces ED scrutiny as ₹10 crore worth of assets are attached over plagiarism allegations linked to Enthiran. The case, originally dismissed in 2023, resurfaces with new developments.
ED Attaches S Shankar’s Assets (Photo Credit – Facebook)
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Enthiran The Robot was the first Tamil film to have a production budget exceeding INR 100 crore. Released in 2010, the film was a massive success and later had a sequel, 2.0, in 2018.
Recently, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached ₹10 crore worth of immovable assets belonging to director S. Shankar. This action is linked to a plagiarism allegation against him concerning Enthiran. The complaint was filed by Aarur Tamilnadan, who claims that the film’s plot was copied from his story Jiguba, published in a Tamil magazine in April 1996.
Initially, a civil suit was filed against S. Shankar and producer Kalanithi Maran in 2011. More than a decade later, in 2023, the Madras High Court dismissed the case, ruling that an idea—such as robots developing human emotions—cannot be copyrighted.
The case was later taken up by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). According to them, Shankar received a remuneration of INR 11.5 crores for his contributions to the project, which included direction, screenplay, story development, and dialogues. The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) has also supported Aarur Tamilnadan’s claims, citing similarities in narrative structure, character development, and other aspects of the plotline.
According to the Hindustan Times, S. Shankar allegedly violated Section 63 of the Copyright Act, 1957, which constitutes a scheduled offense under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
The cast of Enthiran includes Rajinikanth, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Santhanam, Danny Denzongpa, Karunas and others. You can now enjoy the film in 4K on Sun NXT. The music is composed by A.R. Rahman, with cinematography by R. Rathnavelu.
